Into the Woods
by c00kiefic
Summary: Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess with long raven hair and enchanting eyes, whose only desire was to be loved by the handsome, yet distant prince…
1. Once Upon a Time

**Hyde and Donna disappointed me so much in this episode. Thus, I wrote this because a) I wanted to see what would happen in this scenario, b) I wanted to attempt to redeem them, at least in my own eyes. C: Also, I'm obsessed with the Brother's Grimm. Like, seriously, seriously obsessed. Like, I get disappointed when I watch Disney movies and they don't end right. I want to see the wicked step sisters get their eyes poked out by ravens damn it. Also, who better to play a princess than Jackie?**

**The story shares a name with the musical, but isn't related in any way except both deal with fairy tales. I don't own anything in here. **

** Warning: You'll probably want to kill Hyde. He gets better, I promise!  
**

**Second warning: Realism isn't the point here...  
**

**Half of the last chapter is written, but the second and it need slight tweaking, expect them fairly soon though. **

**Please review, pretty, pretty please with a naked Hyde on top?**

* * *

**Into the Woods, Part One. **

_Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess with long raven hair and enchanting eyes, whose only desire was to be loved by the handsome, yet distant prince… _

Hyde was alone when he found Donna and Randy kissing behind a tree.

"Where's Jackie?" Donna asked, looking behind him.

"What?" Hyde's head was pounding. "Where is who?"

"Jackie!" Donna yelled. "Where is Jackie?"

Hyde shrugged. "Oh, her, uh, she's somewhere behind me." He scratched his head. "I wouldn't worry about her."

Donna and Randy shared a look. "Great." Donna said. "Now we have to find both Fez and Jackie." She took Randy's hand and looked at Hyde. "You're clearly too drunk to be any help, so you stay here and wait for Mr. Forman to come back." Hyde gave her a mocking salute and sat down on a rock. Donna rolled her eyes and she and Randy left the clearing.

"Jackie!" Donna yelled. "Jackie!"

Randy was yelling her name as well. "Jackie!" "It's Randy and Donna… Hyde's not with us!" He shrugged at Donna. "Maybe she'll show up if we tell her Hyde isn't with us."

Donna nodded. "Good plan." She yelled Jackie's name again as they walked deeper and deeper into the woods.

* * *

Hyde felt like he was going to be sick. His stomach was rolling into knots, an uneasy feeling that had nothing to do with being drunk washed over him. He felt like he was forgetting something important. 

"_Jackie, give me your hand!" _

* * *

"Where am I?" All Jackie could see was darkness. 

"Oh sorry 'bout that." A voice that seemed to come from all around her said. A moment later, she was surrounded by trees. Looking around, Jackie realized she wasn't in the same woods as before. This was the forest of fairy tales, dark, ominous and full of dread. An owl hooted in the distance, red eyes stared at her from the dark.

"Great." She said. "It's like I'm Snow White." She sat down on a log. "Well, I guess I just sit here and wait huh?"

"Go." The same voice ordered.

Jackie looked around. "Who is that?"

* * *

Donna and Randy had been walking for what seemed like miles, having no luck with finding Jackie. 

"Maybe we should go back. She's probably already with Hyde." Randy suggested.

Donna wasn't so sure. She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, as though something was wrong but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Yeah, you're right." She relented. They had been out for nearly four hours already; it was time they got home. As they walked back, Donna would call for Jackie, but all she received was silence. When they got to the creek, Donna noticed something shiny hanging from a plant near the water. Curious, Donna went to look at it.

"What is it?" Randy asked, coming up behind Donna. Donna pulled a necklace off the plant. "This is Jackie's!" She exclaimed. "But what is it doing down here?" Donna asked.

They shared a look that spoke volumes. "JACKIE!" They both yelled, running along the edge of the bank, following the water's current. A quarter of a mile away from the necklace, they found one of Jackie's shoes. Further ahead still, a piece of a sleeve from Jackie's sweater.

Donna had never in her life felt more scared. This was worse than when her mother had left, worse than when Eric told her he was going to Africa. She wanted to scream out in desperation. All she wanted to do was break down and cry. But she kept on running.

"Look!" Randy grabbed her arm and turned her towards a muddy bank across the creek. "It's Jackie!"

They both ran as fast as they could to her. Randy leaned down and turned her over.

"She's not breathing." He told her. "I know CPR." He started to wipe the mud and gunk out of her mouth so that he could start clearing her airways. "She probably has water in her lungs."

If this was under any other circumstance, Donna would have been impressed. Instead, she just found herself getting angry. Angry at Fez for losing Mrs. Forman's ring and then getting lost, angry at herself for leaving Jackie with Hyde, angry at Hyde for being too drunk to realize Jackie had fallen into the creek. She watched as Randy performed CPR on Jackie.

"I'm going to get help." Donna told him, standing up. Randy merely raised his hand and gave her the thumbs up sign as he breathed into Jackie's mouth.

* * *

Jackie felt like she had been walking forever, at this point, all she wanted was for some company. She could hear the crackling of leaves next to her, startled; Jackie almost started to run when a white rabbit appeared, twitching his nose at her as he hopped over to Jackie's still frame. 

"Please tell me you don't talk."

The rabbit only twitched his nose in response. Jackie nodded. "Good, because this is weird enough already."

She walked down the worn down path. She wondered who else had walked this path, Red Riding Hood? Snow White? Hansel and Gretel? Would she find herself in the clutches of an evil witch? Would she be fed until she was fat enough to eat? Locked away in a tower, forced to grow her hair long enough to climb?

"Which way?" She asked when they reached a fork in the path. The rabbit twitched his nose again.

"You're very helpful." She said sarcastically. "If I were a princess, which way would I go?"

* * *

Screaming, he could hear screaming, desperate yelling for help. 

Hyde was sure he had never thrown up this much before. The pain in his eyes swelled as the screaming became louder. Whoever it was, they were getting closer. He opened his eyes just in time to see Donna running past him. She was ignoring him as she ran towards the highway.

Hyde struggled to get up. The uneasy feeling he had earlier was back in full force. He stumbled as he followed Donna to the street.

She was waving her arms frantically, trying to catch any passing car that came their way. Her breathing was erratic, as though she had just ran a marathon.

"Did you find Fez?" Hyde asked.

Donna turned to Hyde and stared at him blankly. She had completely forgotten about Fez, which just added to her own sense of guilt. She wondered of he knew that Jackie had fallen in. If he knew how far the water had carried her before finally throwing her into a pit of mud. She wondered if he knew that he had probably just killed her best friend.

She needed to look into his eyes, needed to see if he felt any sense of guilt for what he had done. Before he could stop her, she yanked his glasses off his head and threw them at a tree, causing the lenses to shatter.

"What the fuck, Donna?" He yelled. She grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her.

At first all she saw was nothing. No guilt, no remorse, no sense of anything, but as she looked closer, she was beginning to see what she had been looking for all along, concern.

Not that he necessarily knew what he was concerned about, but she decided to take it, to hold on to it, for everyone's sake. She found herself able to breathe again, able to think.

Hyde was staring at her; he had never seen Donna this frantic, this out of control.

"Donna, where's Randy?" He asked, concerned.

"He's fine." Donna told him, looking out into the street. She prayed that someone would drive by soon or else she was going to have to make a run towards Point Place, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to make it.

"Can you run?" She asked, already knowing the answer. He was clearly still too drunk to do anything, judging by the way he was struggling to stay on his feet.

In the distance, she could hear singing.

"When the saints…"

"Oh when the saints."

"When the saints go marching on."

Donna watched as her father and Fez came marching out of the woods, singing. Never before had she been so glad to see either one of them.

"DAD!" She yelled. He waved at her as he and Fez continued their march. "Dad!" She yelled again. She ran towards them.

"Hi pumpkin!" He said, smiling. Donna had to remind herself that neither he nor Fez knew what was going on. She also had no idea that she was crying until her dad reached up to brush a tear off her cheek.

"What's wrong?" He asked, instantly concerned. Fez was standing next to Bob, the same look of concern on his face. "Donna?"

"Jackie." Donna got the word out in a rush at the same time Hyde threw up.

Fez glared at him. "How drunk is he?"

"Never mind about him." Bob said. "Donna, what about Jackie?"

"Fell… mud… can't breathe." Donna could hardly get the words out.

"Where?" Fez asked.

"Near the creek, a mile and a half into the woods." Donna told him. She had barely gotten the sentence out before Fez was running.

Bob took Donna's hands. "Kitten, I'm going to go with Fez. You stay here with Hyde okay?"

Donna could only nod. Bob gave Donna a smile and took off after Fez. Donna turned towards Hyde who was leaning up against a tree with a smile on his face.

"How can you smile?" She asked.

"It's peaceful." He answered. "Listen to that sound Donna."

"I don't hear anything." Donna told him.

"Exactly, that's the sound of no annoying brunettes chirping away." He still had his eyes closed as he spoke to her.

Donna closed her eyes for a second. "Did you push her in?"

Hyde opened one eye. "Did I push who in where?"

Donna walked up to Hyde until she was standing just a foot away from him. She could smell vomit and booze on his breath and it just fueled her anger. She wished Eric was there, he was always the only one who could get through to Hyde. Him and Jackie at any rate.

"She might die, Hyde."

Hyde sighed. "You're going to have to be more specific, Donna."

Donna blinked. "Jackie!" She yelled.

Hyde waved his hand in a dismissive motion. "She probably just left without us."

Donna didn't understand how even drunk, Hyde could be so far out of it that he had no idea what was going on. She turned around and walked so that she was far away from him.

"You had better hope she's okay, because if she isn't…" defeated, Donna sat on the ground.

* * *

Eventually, Jackie had reached a small house in a clearing. "Oh goody, dwarves!" She said, clapping her hands. The door to the house opened and Jackie jumped behind a tree so she wouldn't be seen. She peaked around the tall oak and stared at the man who walked out. He was scanning around, as though he was waiting for something or some one. Sighing, the man walked back inside into the house and closed the door behind him. 

Jackie looked down at her rabbit companion. "Did you see him?" She asked. "Wasn't he freaking gorgeous?" Jackie didn't think she had seen someone so beautiful, and yet, he seemed familiar.

"Do you think I should go talk to him?"

The rabbit twitched his nose again in response.

"Yeah, you're right, he's a handsome prince right?" Jackie stepped from behind the tree and nervously walked up to the door. When she reached it, the house disappeared and the Rabbit disappeared, and Jackie was left alone.

"Oh come on!" Jackie complained.

* * *

Moments later, Fez was coming out of the woods. Out of breath, he stopped by Donna who looked up at him. He shook his head. "I'm going to go get the Forman's." He told her. "She's still not…" 

Donna nodded. "Go." Fez took off for the town and Donna resumed her silent prayer.

* * *

Hyde stared at Donna dumfounded. He had thrown up twice but he still felt sick. An unfamiliar emotion was filling him up. 

"Donna?" She was ignoring him. Hyde sat up and walked towards her and sat down next to her. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours, but were probably closer to ten minutes.

* * *

Fez prayed that the Forman's were still awake as he ran towards the house. He was grateful when he saw the light in the kitchen was on that he nearly crashed into the door. Hearing the crash, Red turned and rolled his eyes as he walked towards the door. 

"Did you find Kitty's ring?" Red asked.

Fez shook his head. "No."

"Well then go back and don't come back until you do." He started to close the door but Fez grabbed his arm.

Red glared at him. "What do you think you're doing?" In the same moment, Kitty walked through the kitchen door.

"Red?" She asked. She looked behind him to see Fez, panic written all over his face.

"Fez what's going on? Did you find my ring?"

Fez wanted to scream, 'ring? What ring? Who cares about a stupid ring?" But he didn't. Instead, he took his hand off Red and ran towards Kitty.

"Fez, sit down and tell us what's wrong."

"Ambulance." He said in his thick accent.

Kitty's eyes went wide. "Who needs an ambulance Fez?" She asked, already heading towards the phone. "Is it Steven? I knew he drank too much today."

Red rolled his eyes. "One of the kids probably just tripped and twisted an ankle; I'll just go get them." Red walked over to the drawer to get his keys.

"It's Jackie!" Fez shouted. "Jackie fell into the creek."

Red and Kitty stopped arguing and stared at Fez for a second, but then, just like that, Red was out the door and Kitty was on the phone dialing 911.

Fez didn't know where to go or what to do, so he stayed where he was. He could hear Kitty on the phone with the emergency operator, telling them where Jackie was.

"Hyde, you son of a bitch."

* * *

"_Jackie, just take my hand." _

"_No." _

"_Jackie, take my hand!" He demanded, giving her no choice. _

He woke up as the image of her falling. Hyde blinked as the real world came into focus. Donna was still sitting next to him, shaking with fear.

"Scared of the monster in the woods?" He joked, feeling slightly more sober now that he had gotten some sleep.

Donna didn't answer him. Instead, she continued to pray for Fez to come back with Red.

"Where is she dumb ass?"

Donna stood up and ran to Red. "Mr. Forman, I'm so scared."

Red glared at her. "Just take me too her." He gave a passing glance at Hyde. "What's with him?"

"He's still drunk, I don't think he knows…"

Red shook his head. He didn't have time to deal with his lush of a son at the moment. His first and only concern was making sure Jackie was okay. "Take me to her." Donna grabbed his arm and the two took off, leaving Hyde alone.

"She's breathing again." Randy told them when they reached her. "But I think she hit her head on one of the rocks." They looked at Jackie's head and saw blood.

Red leaned down to check on Jackie himself. "You give her CPR?" He asked Randy.

Randy nodded. "Yes. Sir."

Behind him, Bob was staring at the heavens, praying for the girl he considered to be his other daughter.

* * *

"Just tell me what to do." Jackie demanded the voice. "Tell me where to go, what to do!" 

"Remember."

Remember. What was she supposed to remember?

* * *

"Sir?" 

Hyde opened his eyes to see three EMTs standing in front of him, two were carrying a gurney and one had a medical kit. "We were told there's a drowning victim?" The one with the medical kit asked.

Hyde stared at them. "A what?" He asked as he heard Donna screaming again. The two men shared a look and took off in the direction of Donna's voice.

Hyde got up to follow them. He wasn't sure why he was doing it, maybe it was because he was sick of being left alone, or maybe it was because of the sick feeling in his stomach.

He got there in time to see them lifting Jackie's still body onto the gurney and Donna whispering something into her ear. Red's expression was eerily calm and even Randy, who was usually smiling, was solemn. The EMT's carrying Jackie passed by Hyde. Words like unconscious, head trauma, drowned, washed over Hyde. Hyde looked over to see the third technician talking to Red, Bob, Donna and Randy.

_She was stepping onto the log… _

Hyde opened his eyes to see Bob, Donna and Randy walking past him. Red stopped in front of him.

"Okay dumbass, you're going to walk back to the house and you're going to sober up and then, you're going to remember what happened and then meet us at the hospital. Oh, and if she doesn't make it, a foot in your ass will be the least of your worries." He was gone before Hyde could respond.

* * *

**Okay, I know that things don't look good right now, but remember this is a fairy tale, and I believe in happy endings. Someone might have to lose part of a foot, but it will work itself out. **

**Please let me know what you think! Good, Bad, Indifferent.  
**

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	2. Spindles

**I wasn't going to update until this Friday, but the response has been so great, and this weekend is going to be a bitch, so I'm updating now instead. **

**Thanks for the reviews; I'm really happy that you guys are digging this. I think that this may become my favorite thing I've written thus far. A lot of work is going into this, and I'm really happy that you guys are responding so well to it! Please keep reviewing! **

**Just as a note, I'm taking a lot of liberties with the actual episode. **

**This chapter is transitional. Jackie's fairy tale adventure has only just begun, as has Hyde and Donna's quest for redemption. **

* * *

"_The King's daughter shall, in her fourteenth year, be wounded by a spindle and fall down dead." –Briar Rose._

Fez and Kitty were already at the hospital when the gang arrived with the ambulance. The EMTS took Jackie directly into the emergency room without stopping. Red walked up to Kitty and embraced her into a bear hug. Fez walked up to Bob, Donna and Randy.

"I called Kelso." He told them. "He's on his way."

"Good." Donna said her heart pounding.

Fez looked around. "Where's Hyde?"

"Red made him walk back." Randy told him.

Fez couldn't help but laugh. "Good burn."

Donna burst into tears and hugged Fez, who hugged her back without even trying to grope her.

* * *

Jackie sat down on the ground, feeling helpless. "Okay, think, Jackie." She said aloud.

"What do you need to remember?" Part of her knew that it had something do with the prince.

"I'm supposed to remember him right?"

Silence.

"Because I know him right?"

More silence.

"Because he's my prince right? But something… something tore us apart."

Jackie waited for an answer. "Are you even listening to me?" She asked.

Silence.

* * *

"How are you doing?" Randy asked, sitting next to Donna and putting his arm around her.

She snapped at him. "How do you think I'm doing?" She threw his arm off and stood up.

"Uh… can I do anything?" It was clear that Randy was worried about her.

Donna turned around to face him. "Leave."

Randy stood up. "Uh, okay, you need to be with your friends…call me tomorrow?"

Donna looked over his shoulder at the group. She took a deep breath. "We need to talk." She took his hand and led him out the waiting room door and into the hallway.

"Look, Randy, you're a really nice guy, and you've been really sweet these past few months, and well, you saved Jackie's life last night."

"But?" Randy pressed.

"But I can't… I was so caught up in you that I didn't think about anyone else except me. I've been really selfish lately, and I just… I can't do this anymore."

She watched as Randy took in a deep breath. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Donna nodded. "I am."

Randy smiled sadly. "Hug?" He asked, holding out his arms.

Donna let herself be hugged by Randy. He whispered in her ear. "She'll be okay."

Donna gulped and thanked him, but in the back of her mind, she wondered if okay was going to be good enough. She watched as Randy walked out of the hallway doors and out of her life before going back into the waiting room where she sat next to her dad.

"Don't you have a shift sweetie?"

Donna had forgotten all about her shift, and it was too late to call in and get a replacement. She was going to have to go into work.

"Crap."

* * *

The house was dark when Hyde finally got back to the Forman's house. He didn't notice that both cars were gone, or the note on the kitchen table as he passed by them to go down into the basement. All he wanted to do was sleep. He took his clothes off quickly and changed into his sweatpants before passing out onto his cot and into a dream filled sleep.

"_If she dies…" _

"_Did you push her?" _

"_She could die…"_

"_A foot in the ass will be the least of your worries." _

Hyde woke up two hours later, Donna's screams echoing into his head. The fog that had entranced Hyde was now lifted, but the uneasy feeling he had, it was still there. He chalked it up to having a hang over. He turned on his stereo to hear Donna's voice.

"I know the next song isn't what I usually play, but it's a dedication to my own best friend. Jackie, I'm praying for you…" ABBA's Dancing Queen started playing.

"_Jackie, give me your hand!"_

The uneasy feeling returned. What the hell had happened last night?

* * *

Jackie stared at the clearing where the small house had been. The path she had taken kept winding back to this spot. A small part of Jackie hoped that the house, and its inhabitant would reappear, but they never did. She had never felt so defeated in her life.

Jackie clutched her knees to her chest and sobbed. "I don't want to be alone anymore." She said through her tears. "I want my prince back." She looked up. "I'll give anything."

* * *

When Hyde woke up, Donna's voice had been replaced by Krazy Karl. Hyde glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly noon. He had slept half the day away, which wasn't an unnatural occurance, but he was surprised someone hadn't come to wake him up. Hyde swallowed a couple aspirin with some water and threw on his usual tee shirt and jeans ensemble. He looked for his shades but couldn't find them. Come to think of it, he didn't have them on when he came home last night either. Mrs. Forman's ring, Fez, and now his shades, the woods took everything.

He expected to see his friends already in the basement, watching TV or listening to music. He'd take Jackie aside and tell her that he was sorry for his behavior last night, and she'd smile and everything would be, okay.

Well, maybe not okay, but at least he wouldn't have this strange sense of guilt on his shoulders.

Instead, he was greeted with silence. Confused, Hyde headed upstairs where he saw that no one was in the Kitchen.

"Mrs. Forman?" He called through the door that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Hyde shrugged, maybe they were outside. As he walked to the patio door, he saw a piece of paper on the table. Hyde picked it up with the same sense of trepidation one picks up a dead rat.

"_Steven, _

_We're at the hospital, come when you can." _

_Love, _

_Kitty and Red._

The note on the table confused Hyde. Why were they at the hospital?

Hyde tried to remember the night before. He had been arguing with Jackie, and then he had been sitting on a rock while Donna and Randy had gone off to be alone. But then Donna had come back and she was different, she was scared. Hyde had never seen Donna scared. He hazily remembered Fez and Bob returning. Everyone was running, scared. Randy… Randy hadn't returned.

Had Randy gotten hurt somehow? The note had said to join them at the hospital. Hyde grabbed his keys and drove to the hospital. He walked up to the front desk.

"Randy Pearson?"

The nurse stood up and told Hyde that she would be right back. A few minutes later, she returned, shaking her head. "There's no patient by that name."

What? Hyde blinked. "Check again."

"Do you know when the patient was admitted? There's a good chance that the file just hasn't come down yet."

"I think it was two hours ago." Hyde wasn't positive, but it seemed right.

"Oh." The nurse frowned. "Then I'm sorry, but there's no patient here by that name."

What the hell?

* * *

After an hour of crying, begging and pleading with no one, Jackie stood up. "Okay, I've had enough of this!" She yelled. "If you're not going to bring my prince to me, I'm going to go find him!" He was probably in the clutches of some evil witch right now.

"Oh, if she lays a hand on him, I'll make her wish she was never born!" She yelled, marching into the woods.

* * *

Hyde didn't notice Kelso run past him towards the stairs as he tried to rack his brain for a reason as to why the nurse couldn't find locate Randy. Part of him was beginning to wonder if Randy wasn't the one who had gotten hurt.

Donna had been fine, angry and scared, but fine. Fez had been okay. Wait, he remembered that Randy had walked past him later with Bob, Red. There had been a stretcher…

"_We were told there was a drowning victim?" _

"_She could die, Hyde." _

Wait, she? He could now vividly remember Donna saying she. But, that couldn't be right. There was no other she with them, except for Jackie, but she had gone home without them.

She had gone home without them. She had gone home without them. She had gone home without them.It became a mantra inside Hyde's head. He had been standing on the log and he had told her to take his hand but she had refused, and then… she had just walked off.

But something about the memory didn't feel right. He felt like there was a huge chunk missing. The odd feeling he had last night was coming back full force.

Hyde made his way back to the nurse's station.

"I checked again, and there's still no Randy Pearson."

Hyde nodded. "Uh, I think I might have gotten the wrong name."

The nurse stood up from her chair and waited.

With a deep breath, both to calm down and to convince himself that he was making a mistake, he said her name. "Jackie Burkhart."

The nurse who had been sitting across from them perked up. "Isn't that the girl who drowned?" She said, standing up and walking towards them.

"What do you mean drowned?" Hyde blurted out.

"Hit her head on a rock too, poor thing might never wake up."

"Wake up? What the hell are you talking about?" Hyde yelled.

"The orderlies have started calling her sleeping beauty." The nurse continued to say.

Hyde didn't listen to the nurses as he took off. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he knew that eventually, he'd find either the Formans or one of his friends.

* * *

It had been Fez who had filled Kelso in on what happened. They watched as the color drained from Kelso's face.

"So Hyde pushed her in?"

Kitty shook her head. "No, it was an accident." She seemed to be trying to convince herself as much as him.

* * *

"Steven!" Jackie yelled through the darkness. "Answer me!" The only answer she got was the sound of a raven cawing.

"I am not scared." Jackie said defiantly. "I'm going to find Steven if it's the last thing I do."

"It's hopeless." The voice finally spoke again.

"No, it's not. I can find him." She yelled back.

"Do you even know why you're here?" The voice asked, sounding much kinder now.

Jackie stopped in her tracks. "Well, no." She admitted.

"You're here because of him. Do you really want to rescue someone who put you here?"

"It was a mistake." She said, not feeling very sure. "I have to find him." Jackie said, strengthening her resolve.

* * *

"Give me my M&MS you son of a bitch!" Fez hit the vending machine for a third time. He was beginning to understand why Hyde liked to hit so much.

"Fez!"

Fez turned to see Hyde running towards him. 'Speak of the devil' Fez thought to himself.

"Well, look who finally sobered up." Fez crossed his arms and glared at Hyde.

"Fez, what's going on?"

"You don't know?"

Hyde shook his head. "No, the nurse said something about drowning and coma and well, to be honest, I have no idea what's going on right now."

Fez knew he couldn't be the one to tell him, simply because he wasn't sure himself.

"What happened to Jackie man?" Hyde asked the worry clear in his voice.

"I think we were hoping you'd tell us. You were there when it happened right?"

"When what happened?"

"Red figured it out, that she had fallen into the creek and since it had rained earlier…."

"Jackie didn't fall into the creek!" Hyde said. "She didn't fall into the creek!" He repeated it louder, causing Fez to wince. "She went home. This is… this is all wrong. You've got it all wrong."

"She drowned you fool! She's lucky to even be alive!" Fez shouted.

Hyde felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn't deal with this. Not now.

Fez sighed. "You're going to take off aren't you?"

Hyde didn't want to admit that was exactly what he was planning on doing. Fez rubbed his eyes in frustration with his friend. "You always do this. You always bail when things get too scary for you."

"Fez."

Fez held up his hand to keep Hyde from going any further. "If you walk away, you're going to regret it, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

"Are you quoting Casablanca man?" Hyde asked incredulously.

Fez smiled through his heartbreak. "Is it working?"

"Fez, I need to go. I can't be here."

Fez felt like crying. "Go. Jackie doesn't need you here anyway." But it was too late, Hyde was already gone.

* * *

"You know, I thought we agreed that if I remembered Steven, I would you know, be home?"

"I don't remember making any such agreement." The voice sounded bored.

"But I remembered!" She shouted. "You told me to remember, and I did, so let me go!"

"What, exactly, did you remember?"

Jackie frowned. "Uh, I remember Steven!"

"Is that all?"

What else was there?

* * *

Hyde drove past the Welcome to Point Place sign and pulled over. He knew that the only way he could remember what had happened to Jackie is if he came back to the woods. Three Ravens sat on a tree branch, cawing in unison as Hyde walked towards them. They stared at him with rapt curiosity, as though they were trying to look into his soul.

"CAW!"

"CAW CAW!"

"CAW CAW CAW"

As Hyde went deeper into the forest, he worried that he wasn't in the right place until he saw a large plastic cup. Donna had been drinking out of a cup like that. Hyde walked over to it and picked it up. It still had a little bit of liquid left in it. He removed the lid and poured the coke onto the putrid smelling ground.

Hyde stood up quickly and fought the urge to gag. It smelled like rotten yeast. The memory of throwing up flashed in Hyde's mind. Glancing over, he saw one of the rims of what used to be his shades.

"_Did you find Fez?" Hyde asked Donna as she past by him to run to the street. _

_She had turned to him, staring at him like he had grown two heads. He watched her blink rapidly in front of him. He couldn't stop her as she took his sunglasses off his face and threw them at the tree. He watched as the lenses shattered into a thousand pieces against the tree. _

"_What the fuck, Donna?" _

Hyde dropped the rims and took a deep breath. The sunglasses could be replaced. Hyde walked towards the creek. Each footstep he took reminded of the night before. He had called Jackie annoying, had laughed at her, said she was bitchy. Soon, Hyde reached his destination. He stood by the log and watched the rushing creek. Even though the rain had stopped, the creek was still full and moving fast. As he walked with the current, he had no trouble imagining Jackie as she tried desperately to stay above the water, but he knew, as tiny as she was, there was no way she could have. He saw the blood on the large rock, the pieces of her sweater that had washed up onto the bank.

And then he saw the mud. The indentation of her body, the footprints of their friends as they tried helplessly to save her, and while all of this was going on. He had been laughing. He had said it was peaceful without her around. He had ignored Donna as she pleaded with him to sober up, to realize what was happening.

"FUCK!" Hyde yelled as loud as he could.

"I take it you remember what happened."

Hyde turned around to see Red.

"Red!" Hyde jumped back, shocked.

"I figured you'd be here." Red told him. "When Fez said you were gone, I knew there was only one place you could possibly be."

"I let her… I let her fall in and I didn't do anything. I didn't, She's in a coma and it's because of me." Hyde paused and looked at Red. "Isn't this the part where you tell me it wasn't my fault?"

Red crossed his arms. "Sorry, can't do that." He uncrossed his arms and pointed to Hyde. "But, I will tell you this much. You are going to tell me everything you remember from last night, and then you're going to get into your car and I'm going to follow you home where you're going to take a shower and get some sleep, and then tomorrow morning, we're all going to go the hospital and you're going to look at that girl. You think you feel guilt now? Oh, it hasn't even begun."

* * *

The woods were silent as Jackie ventured deeper in. There was no cawing of crows, no hooting of owls, not even the wolves were howling. Everything was dead still as she stepped over the dead thicket. Jackie ignored her pounding heart and the urge to run away. She had come this far, she had to keep going.

If only she knew where.

* * *

"Can I come up?" Donna asked Fez as she pulled into the parking lot of his and Jackie's building.

Fez nodded. "Yeah."

The two walked in companionable silence up to the apartment.

"How does something like this happen?" Fez finally asked.

"Hmm?" Donna knew what Fez meant, but she still needed him to elaborate further.

"Why is it that she always gets hurt but Hyde…? Hyde gets off? How is that fair?" He spouted as they entered the apartment.

"It's not fair." Donna replied as she walked to the kitchen for a beer. When she opened the fridge though, the memory of Hyde throwing up in front of her made the beer repulsive. Instead, she grabbed two cokes and handed one to Fez who smiled gratefully at her before taking a swig and then slamming the bottle on the counter.

"He's supposed to protect her!" Fez yelled. "He was supposed to be the one who loved her, but instead he just let her…"

Donna nodded sadly and Fez plowed on. "Remember how he used to try to get Kelso get caught cheating? Or how when her mom left he let her stay with him?"

Donna remembered. She remembered every last moment of it, which is what made it that much harder to deal with. The person last night, that wasn't her friend. She didn't know who he was, which only brought her back to Fez's original question.

How does something like this happen?

* * *

Let me know what you think! 


	3. Mirrors

**A/N Man, you guys are so fantastic; I want to make you all cookies. Inspiration for this chapter came from the song When Dolphins Cry by Live. You can find the song on youtube.  
**

**Warning: Language. **

**Mirrors.**

* * *

"_Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"- Snow White._

As Hyde climbed the stairs up to the kitchen, he could smell the scent of bacon being fried. It was usually a comforting smell, but today it felt heavy and overwhelming. He entered the kitchen to see Red sitting at the table and Kitty standing over the stove.

"Good morning, Steven." Kitty's usually chipper demeanor was replaced with something much more subdued.

"Morning." He said as he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.

"Visiting hours start in an hour." Red told him.

Kitty dropped a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Hyde. Hyde just stared at it.

"I'm not really hungry, Mrs. Forman." Hyde told her politely.

"Eat it." Red ordered.

Hyde took a hesitant bite of his eggs and smiled at Kitty. "Thanks." He told her as she sat Red's food down.

"Eric called this morning." Kitty said as she sat down with her own plate. "He's taking the first flight home tomorrow morning."

News that should have been spoken with enthusiasm was instead said in Kitty's subdued tone. The three people sitting at the kitchen table knew that the reason for Eric's return was not cause for celebration. Hyde suspected that Eric's return had nothing to do with him wanting to come back, and everything to with him being Hyde's conscience.

* * *

Donna hadn't realized she had fallen asleep on the couch in Jackie and Fez's apartment until she woke up the following morning with a blanket on top of her. Fez must have put it on her after she had fallen asleep. Slowly, Donna sat up and stretched her arms out, trying to get the kinks out of her back from sleeping on the hard surface. 

"Morning." Donna turned her head to see Fez was standing in the kitchen. "I'd offer you cereal, but all we have is that shredded wheat that Jackie insists on eating. She was supposed to pick up some fruity pebbles from the store today but…" Fez trailed off as tears formed in his eyes.

"It's okay, Fez." Donna said, walking into the kitchen. "I'm not that hungry anyway."

Fez nodded. "Neither am I."

"I should call dad, he's probably really worried." Donna said.

"Don't worry about it." Fez responded. "I called him after you fell asleep."

Donna smiled. "I'm going to go take a shower then." She walked into Jackie's bathroom, taking note of all the beauty products that filled the bathtubs edge. Donna turned the water on, letting it get as hot as it would go without scalding her before stepping in. The dirtiness she felt had very little to do with the mud caked on her skin. She watched as the water washed away the mud, the grime and her own tears. She felt like she was burning inside and out and she welcomed the pain.

* * *

Jackie hummed to herself as she walked through the dead thicket. She could feel her confusion, loneliness and fear grow inside her, twisting together to form another emotion that she couldn't describe. She could feel the hope she had several hours ago start to fade away. She had been walking too far and too long now, and she felt like she was getting nowhere. 

"It might help if you tell me where to go." It was quite discomforting that her only companion was a disembodied voice.

"What do you expect from me?" the voice asked. "For me to tell you where to go?"

"Yes!" Jackie shouted. "Look, I've been walking through this part of the forest for two hours now, and let me tell you, it's not the best scenery."

The voice groaned. "You princesses, you never want to do any of the work. You just expect things to be handed to you."

Jackie stared down at her feet. "I don't feel like a princess."

"What do you feel like?"

Jackie thought about it. Princess, in Jackie's mind, were beautiful, charming, nice. They had friends on their sides, and even though things sometimes got scary, there was always a handsome prince to rescue them. Jackie didn't feel like any of those things anymore.

"Just tell me which way to go." She begged.

There was a moment of silence before the voice answered. "Go left."

* * *

"Turn right at the doors to the cardiology wing, go down the hallway until you see a set of double doors, go through them and ask the nurse to see Jackie." 

Hyde stared at Kitty and Red. "You're not coming?"

Kitty shook her head sadly. "We need to go do something, but we'll be back later."

Red gave Hyde a little push. "I called the ICU earlier to let them know you were coming, so no running away this time."

Hyde nodded as Red tried to read his thoughts. Slowly, Red turned to Kitty. "Actually, I'm going to take you there." Red said, turning back to Hyde.

"Don't you trust me to make it there on my own?" Hyde asked.

"No." Red stated simply, grabbing Hyde's arm to lead him towards the ICU while Kitty waited for Red to return.

* * *

Donna stared at herself in the mirror. The heat of the water had turned her skin red, but underneath the flushed skin, all she saw was someone who looked much older than she should have been. It wasn't maturity that was giving her lines, or even heartbreak over losing her first love, it was every callous word she said, ever selfish action she had taken the past year. Things were going to change, starting with her. 

She dressed and dried her hair before coming out of the bathroom. Fez was in Jackie's room, putting things into a duffle bag.

"What are you doing?" Donna asked.

"I thought Jackie might like a few of her things." Fez answered as he placed a pair of Jackie's socks into the bag.

Donna nodded. "I'll get her makeup." She knew that even in a coma, Jackie would want to look good.

They packed Jackie's things, her pillow, Fluffycakes, everything that Jackie loved. Donna walked over to Jackie's book shelf. Nancy Drew dominated the shelves, but there were a couple surprises. A copy of On the Road that she guessed Hyde had given her in some vain attempt to make her less shallow, a copy of The Feminine Mystique that Donna gave her after a particularly bad breakup with Kelso, a worn out copy of The Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales. Donna took it off the shelf and opened it up. Inside the front cover it read:

_Princess Jackie, age ten_, written in tiny, yet neat sprawl. Donna traced ten year old Jackie's handwriting with her finger before closing the book and placing it into the bag and turning to Fez.

"Fez, there's something I need you to do."

Fez looked up, startled. Donna never asked him for any favors.

* * *

Each step they took brought Hyde closer to his fate. They had walked to through the hallways in complete silence, with Red's hand on Hyde's arm, not to bring Hyde any comfort, but to keep him from running. Hyde admitted to himself that the idea had crossed his mind, but he knew that it wouldn't do him any good. Eventually he was going to have to see her. It might as well be today. They walked into the ICU and were greeted by the nurse. 

"Hello Mr. Forman, you here to see Jackie?"

Red shook his head. "I have to leave, but Steven is here to see her." He gave Hyde a little push forward. "We'll be back in two hours." Red told him before he walked out the door.

The nurse smiled at Hyde. "She's right in there. The nurse pointed to the door in front of him and then left Hyde to go make her rounds.

"Right, Hyde." He said to himself as he opened the door "This is no big deal, you can do this."

If it hadn't been for the various tubes and machines hooked up to Jackie's body, he would have thought she was simply sleeping. She wore a slight contented smile. He now understood why the hospital staff had given her the sleeping beauty nickname. It was fitting.

"Well, look who finally made it."

* * *

Kitty and Red sat in the visiting room as they waited for the prison guard to bring Jack Burkhart. Neither was looking forward to giving Jack the news. Pam, they knew, was in Mexico, completely ignorant to her daughter's condition. Jack walked into the room on the opposite side of the screen and smiled lightly when he saw Kitty and Red. 

"Red, Kitty, what brings you here?"

Kitty instantly started to tear up. "I'll be outside." She said. She couldn't sit and listen as Red told Jackie's father the news. She left before Red could stop her.

"Is everything alright?" Worry was starting to seep into Jack's voice.

Red didn't want to do this. "Jackie is in the hospital, there was an accident."

"Accident, what kind of accident?" Jack asked frantically. "What happened to my daughter Red?"

Red could feel Jack's pain. He understood it because it was the same feeling he had when Fez had ran into the house two nights ago. Slowly, Red started to tell Jack everything he could.

* * *

Donna sat on the couch listening to the stereo as she waited for Fez to return. She absently sang along to the Eagles. "We are all just visitors here, of our own device." She stopped when Fez came in, holding a bag in his hand. 

"I had to go to three stores, but I managed to find it." He told her. "Are you sure about this?"

Donna nodded. "Yes." She stood up and took the bag from Fez. She had never felt surer of anything in her entire life.

* * *

Jackie nearly jumped for joy when she saw something alive. An actual green, living plant. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. As Jackie walked further, she noticed that everything around her was green and full of life. The trees were tall, with full broad leaves, birds were chirping to her. She could feel the anxious feeling she had been carrying leave her. Jackie could hear the rustling of leaves, but she figured it was just a squirrel or rabbit. 

"Who goes there?"

Jackie stopped in her tracks at the large and authoritative voice. She started to turn around to go back and find another way, but the voice called to her again.

"Stop right there." A man carrying an axe walked out of the woods. Just like the prince, he had a familiar quality about him.

"What are you doing?" The man asked. "Coming into my woods?"

Jackie frowned. "I don't see your name on them!"

The man threw his axe into the tree next to him and walked up to her. "When are you kids going to realize this forest isn't yours to do with what you like?"

Jackie frowned. "But, I have to find my prince."

"Do you see any princes around here?" The woodsman asked irritated.

"Well, no." Jackie admitted.

The woodsman crossed his arms. "Then what are you doing here?"

* * *

Hyde turned to Kelso's voice. His arms were crossed, but his eyes were misty. Hyde instantly felt bad for him. 

"You can hit me if you want." Hyde squared his jaw for the punch.

Kelso shook his head. "Believe me; as much as I really want to clean your clock right now, I know it won't do any good."

Hyde watched as his oldest friend paced around the room like a caged beast. He knew the explosion was coming soon, and didn't even bother to brace himself for it.

"We made a deal man!" Kelso yelled spastically. He pointed to Hyde. "We made a deal that you would take care of Jackie! That you would protect her! We had a pact!"

_August 16, 1978_

_Hyde sat up on the water tower, throwing his empty beer cans off the side. He was so stupid. Why did he go on that date? Jackie had chosen him. Had kissed him, had begged him to stay. All summer long he had been waiting for her to make up her mind about them, but when she did, he had to ruin it. _

_He was getting really good at that. Hyde threw another beer can off the tower, not noticing Kelso climb up the ladder. _

"_I'm lucky I didn't get hit." Kelso said as he took one of the beers and cracked it open. Hyde made a non committal grunt in response._

"_So, Jackie chose you." Kelso finally said after a few minutes of silence. _

"_Yeah." _

"_I heard you went on a date with an uggo." _

"_She wasn't an uggo." Hyde bit back before pausing. "Yeah, she was an uggo." _

_Kelso threw his empty beer off the tower and didn't respond._

"_Jackie's too complicated man."_

"_She wasn't when I was with her." Kelso smirked. _

_Hyde turned to him. "What does that mean?" _

_Kelso shrugged. "Just that maybe the reason she's complicated is because you made her that way." _

"_All I did was hurt her." _

_Kelso waved his hand dismissively. "Who hasn't? hell, I've hurt her way more than you have, which is why I think you should forget all this crap about her being complicated and just get back together with her." _

"_I don't think it's that simple." Hyde responded as he took the last beer. _

"_Sure it is!" Kelso said excitedly. "Just tell her that you love her, that's all that she wants anyway." _

_Hyde closed his eyes. "Whatever." _

"_But there is one thing though." Kelso said. _

_Hyde opened one eye and looked at Kelso. "What?" _

"_You have to promise not to hurt her anymore." _

Hyde stood still as Kelso raved at him. "You said that no matter what happened, you would be there for her, and you lied man."

"I didn't lie!" Hyde couldn't stop himself from yelling back.

Kelso stared at him, dumbfounded. "It wasn't enough that you broke her heart, but you had to nearly kill her as well!"

"It wasn't my fault she fell." Hyde had no idea why he was trying do defend himself.

"Maybe not." Kelso stated. "But you could have helped her. You could have yelled for help, jumped in after her, something! But you didn't care did you? Donna said that you were laughing."

"I didn't know what was going on!" Hyde shouted.

Kelso crossed his arms and his expression went from one of rage to sadness. "No, you knew. Somehow, you knew."

Kelso was right. This wasn't like breaking the pact to invent a formula for invisibility. This wasn't even like the time he stole Jackie from him, or when he had brought home Sam. This was the ultimate betrayal, of which there would be no absolution. As the memory of the night came fading back into Hyde's conscious, he realized that part of him did know what was going on. He had been hearing her voice all night in the midst of everyone else's screams. Flashes of her face as she fell…

"I thought I was dreaming." Hyde spoke softly. Kelso glanced up at him from the lawn chair. He nodded for Hyde to continue.

"I kept seeing her as she fell in my mind, every time I closed my eyes. I'd hear myself tell her to take my hand. I thought it was all just a bad trip."

"And now?" Kelso asked, uncharacteristically quiet. "Look at her, Hyde. You haven't even glanced at her since you came in here. Look!" Kelso had never demanded a single thing from Hyde before, but he was demanding this.

* * *

Jackie sat on a fallen tree as she contemplated the woodsman's question. He had since left her, just like everyone else in her life. She was completely alone. 

"You're still here?" The woodsman didn't hide his disappointment. "I thought I told you to leave!"

"You came back!" Jackie wanted to hug him, but stopped herself.

"I live here." The woodsman sounded exasperated. "I had to come back."

Jackie stood up and walked towards the Woodsman. "So, can you help me?"

The Woodsman shook his head. "No."

"Can't you just give me a knife or something?"

"No." The woodsman stated. "But, there is one thing I'll give you." He reached down and pulled something out of his satchel. "This is what a princess like you needs." He handed her a small hand mirror.

"Now go away." The Woodsman walked back into the trees as Jackie stared down at the mirror.

* * *

"I see." 

That had not gone the way Red had expected it to. Other than the initial concern, Jack had been unresponsive as Red reiterated the story to him. He had stayed calm through the whole thing, including when Red got the part about Jackie hitting her head on a rock. When Red said Jackie was in a coma, Jack had just sighed. Red waited for Jack to lose his temper and start raving, but it never happened.

"Guard!" Jack yelled. "Take me back to my cell please."

"Jack!" Red shouted.

Jack shrugged. "I can't do anything in here, Red." He smiled at Red. "Take care of my little girl."

"No." Red stated. "Your daughter is in coma, Jack, and you need to face it. I know you can't go see her, but damn it, you will accept the truth."

"And what truth is that, Red?" Jack asked, turning around. "That my princess is laying in a hospital bed with machines doing her breathing for her while that no good, degenerate scum gets off scot-free?" Red had left out the parts about Hyde, but it hadn't taken Jack long to put two and two together.

"It was an accident, Jack."

"That's what they always say."

* * *

Hyde crept towards Jackie's side. He had no idea what to say or do. No longer did she look like a beautiful princess from far away. Now, up close, he was able to see the swelling of her head, the bandages on the back of her crown and one on her cheek. He lifted the one on her cheek up and nearly gagged at the deep wound. Both eyes were black and blue, and once pink lips were colorless. 

"See it now?" Kelso asked in the doorway. When Hyde glanced back at him, he saw that Kelso was gone. Hyde reached out to hold Jackie's hand, careful not to tear her IV out.

"I don't think sorry will cut it this time huh?" He spoke softly. "I know you hate me right now, and you're right. I never should have…" He trailed off, unable to say anything else.

He had been so mean to her that night, so downright cruel. He even laughed when she fell into the creek. Hyde dropped her hand and stood up quickly, backing up so that he was far away from her. Slowly, he sank against the wall and fell to his knees.

Hyde could feel his stomach twisting in knots as a wave of guilt and self hatred overwhelmed him. He ran into the bathroom to throw up. He stood up after all the bile in his throat was cleared and then punched the first thing he saw.

* * *

For the second time that day, Donna stood in front of the mirror in Jackie's bedroom. Fez had found the exact match of her old hair color, and even though it was a trivial gesture, it still served to make Donna feel slightly better. She knew it was going to take a lot more than dying her back its natural color to bring herself redemption. 

Not that she thought she deserved it.

* * *

Jackie sat and studied the mirror. She knew that usually, the line went 'Mirror, Mirror on the wall..." but seeing as it was a hand mirror, Jackie guessed she was going to have to alter the words a bit. Part of Jackie worried that she was being stupid, but Jackie also knew that in fairy tales, mirrors were always magical. 

"Mirror, Mirror, in my hand, tell me who is the fairest one is in all the land?"

The mirror swirled like water. Curious, Jackie reached out to touch it. The swirling glass grabbed Jackie's finger. Jackie tried to pull her finger away as the mirror melted itself to her hand. She was disappearing into the glass and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

* * *

Hyde stared at his reflection in the cracked mirror. He was no better than Jackie's parents who had abandoned her or Kelso when he had cheated on Jackie. He was worse. All he had ever wanted was to not end up like Bud and Edna Hyde, but in his quest to keep the pain out, he had done exactly what he had set out not to do. He stepped out of the bathroom and walked back to Jackie. 

"Tell me what to do." He begged the sleeping girl. "I'll do anything you want, just tell me what to do." He repeated it to her as he cried into her chest. "Tell me what to do." Hyde didn't hear her monitor go off or notice the nurses and doctors run into her room until he was being pushed away and heard the doctors yell that Jackie was crashing and saw her being put onto a gurney.

"What's going on?" Bob asked as he came into the room as the orderlies took Jackie away.

"She needs emergency surgery. Stay here, someone will let you know what's going on soon." The doctor left the two of them alone.

* * *

Donna and Fez walked into the hospital the same time as Red and Kitty. Kitty smiled at Donna's new appearance. 

"You're so cute!" Kitty told her. Donna smiled slightly in return.

Fez held up the bag with Jackie's things. "We brought some things for Jackie."

"You bring that damn unicorn of hers with you?"

Fez nodded at Red. "Yes."

Red nodded in approval. "Good."

They walked passed the nurse and walked right into Jackie's room to see Hyde, Kelso and Bob sitting in chairs and Jackie's bed empty talking quietly.

"What did you do?" Donna asked Hyde venomously.

* * *

**I just want to say thanks for reviewing! **

* * *


	4. Glass Slippers

**I don't own That 70's Show, The Brother's Grimm or anything of consequence really. **

**Thanks for all the great reviews! Everything I've written before was just practice for this story, so it makes me feel super that you're all responding to it this way! **

**Kudos to anyone who caught the Woodsman Red reference. Not everyone is going to correlate to Jackie's fairytale world, but there might be the occasional cameo here and there. **

**E/D fans might hate me after this. If you hate it, go read one of my other stories. They all have ED in them. I'm not being vindictive, just doing what is right for the story. **

* * *

**Glass Slippers. **

"_Roo coo coo, roo coo coo, _

_Blood is dripping from the shoe: _

_The foot's too long and far too wide, _

_Go back and find the proper bride." –Cinderella._

"Tis, tis,"

Jackie opened her eyes to see a woman leaning over her, clucking her tongue. "This won't do!" The woman took Jackie's chin into her hands and moved Jackie's head side to side. "Oh this won't do at all!"

Jackie groaned. She felt like she had just fallen off a twenty story building. "Where am I?" Jackie asked.

"Where are the slippers?" The woman asked, ignoring Jackie's question.

"What slippers?"

The woman threw up her hands. "The glass slippers, surely you have them!"

Jackie shook her head. "Sorry, I don't."

The woman looked at Jackie with distain. "You turned left didn't you?" The woman's voice was accusing.

"The voice told me to!" Jackie replied indignantly.

"And you listened?" The woman scoffed. "I would have figured you better than a dummy, but I guess I was wrong!"

Jackie sat up to get a better look at the woman. If Jackie had to guess, she would say the woman was in her mid to late forties with high cheekbones and a bouffant hair do. She would have been pretty if it weren't for her massive jaw line which gave the woman the appearance of a horse.

"Um, who are you?" Jackie asked

The woman stood up and put her hand to her chest. "Oh silly me, we haven't been properly introduced! Where are my manners?" The woman shook her head.

"I'm your fairy godmother!" The woman cheered and did a little jump.

"Really?" Jackie asked, excitedly.

"Oh, god no." The woman responded sarcastically. "I'm no one's fairy anything."

"Okay." Jackie was confused. The woman leaned back down to look Jackie in the eye. Jackie wanted to jump back at the pure evil she saw in the woman's eyes as she scraped a long sharp nail down Jackie's cheek.

* * *

"What did you do?" Donna yelled again, rushing towards Hyde. Red caught her before she could get to him. "He killed her!" Donna yelled. "Let me at him!" She begged Red. 

"Donna, calm down." Hyde requested.

"Calm down?" Donna asked, livid. "Tell me where Jackie is!"

Bob stood up. "Donna, cupcake, Jackie had to be taken upstairs for some surgery."

This news did not help Donna to relax. "Surgery?"

Bob shrugged; the doctors had not been back yet to inform them of the reasons for Jackie's surgery.

Donna cast an ugly gaze onto Hyde. "What, it's not enough that she almost drowned, you had to finish the job, is that it?"

Before Hyde could respond, Kelso started laughing. Everyone turned to look at him.

"What is it, Michael?" Kitty asked.

"Donna sounds like Jackie right now."

Donna stared at Kelso for a moment before wrapping her arms around Red and crying into his shoulder.

"Kitty, do something." Red said helplessly to his wife. Kitty gently turned Donna around and gave her a motherly hug while Donna continued to sob.

* * *

Hyde watched as his surrogate mother took Donna out of the room. Bob stood up a minute later and gave a slight smile. "I'm going to get some air too." He told them before walking out of the room. Red nodded at Bob and then took his chair. 

Red looked over at Kelso. "You brought that damn thing?" He pointed to the lawn chair.

Kelso nodded. "Yeah, there weren't enough chairs here for everybody." Hyde knew the real reason Kelso had brought the chair over, even if he didn't. No one had any intention of leaving Jackie's side until they absolutely had to. If Jackie couldn't come to the basement, the basement was going to come to Jackie. Hyde made a mental note to himself to bring his chair when a doctor came in.

"Are you Jackie Burkhart's family?" The man asked.

Red stood up and nodded. "Yes, we are."

The doctor looked at the guys, clearly skeptical, but he decided to let it go.

"How is she?" Kelso asked.

"Why did she need surgery?" Fez asked at the same time.

The doctor held up his hand. "Jackie is doing okay; she was just having an adverse reaction to the medication she was on, and we were just doing some follow up surgery to repair the damage she sustained from drowning."

"How are her lungs?" Red asked.

"I won't lie to you and say we aren't still concerned about the amount of water Jackie took into her lungs. There's always risk for complications in this situation, but we're doing all we can to make sure Jackie gets the best care we can give her."

"What about her head?" Red asked.

The doctor sighed. "To be honest, I'm more concerned about her head trauma then I am anything else, but we don't know anything for sure until Jackie wakes up."

"So she is going to wake up?" Kelso asked hopefully.

The doctor looked into Kelso's eyes. "I won't lie to you, it's a crap shoot. We just don't know if or when, but, her brainwaves are strong, which is a good sign."

The doctor left a few minutes later after being bombarded with more questions from Red, Kelso and Fez. Hyde sat silent; listening to what the doctor wasn't telling them.

"Oh crap, you're crying!"

Hyde blinked. He hadn't even realized that tears were in his eyes until Kelso brought it up.

"Shut up." It was the only defense Hyde had.

Kelso held up his hands defensively. "Hey, it's okay, I cried earlier too."

"I cried last night as well." Fez admitted. "But then again, I cry a lot."

"Speaking of crybabies," Hyde said, trying to get the attention off of him, "When is Forman supposed to get here?"

Red sucked in a breath. "Sometime tonight, he said he'll just get a cab from the airport and come straight here."

"Does anyone else think it's kind of weird that Eric is coming back because Jackie is in the hospital?" Kelso asked the room. When no one answered he looked at Fez. "Don't they hate each other?"

* * *

Donna sucked in a breath of cool spring air. Kitty had lured her to the small park across the street from the hospital with the promise they wouldn't stay long. As they sat on a park bench, Donna watched as an old married couple holding hands as they strolled leisurely through the park. She had always imagined that someday that would be either her or Eric, or even Jackie and Hyde. Those daydreams were as good as dust now though. 

"I can't look at him anymore, Mrs. Forman." She finally opened up. "I look at him and all I see is him laughing. While I was scared that my best friend might not make it, he was laughing."

"What was he laughing at?" Kitty asked. Red had filled her in on the story, but she didn't want to spill the beans just yet.

"Does it really matter?" Donna snapped at her. She instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry."

"You know what I think?" Kitty asked, "I think that you don't blame Steven, I think that you blame yourself."

"I do blame myself. I never should have left them alone together. " Donna scowled. "He probably wanted it to happen."

Kitty gave a slight laugh. "Oh, Steven isn't capable of doing something like that!"

"I think he's capable of just about anything." Donna responded, standing up to go back inside.

* * *

Jackie stared at herself in the full length mirror that occupied the room the enchantress gave her as the chambermaid tied Jackie's dress together. 

"I wouldn't think about it if I were you."

"Think about what?" Jackie asked.

The chambermaid eyed her. "You're planning on escaping, aren't you?"

"No." Jackie answered shortly.

"Right." The chambermaid said. "That's fine, but just remember what my lady wants, my lady gets."

Jackie now felt nervous. Truthfully, she had planned on ignoring the enchantress's request to find her slippers, but something about the chambermaid's tone made her feel anxious.

"What's your name?" Jackie asked, figuring that if she was going to be here awhile, she might as well make friends.

The chambermaid answered. "I'm not important, and neither are you."

Jackie raised her eyebrow. "Oh, I happen to be very important."

The chambermaid shook her head. "No, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

* * *

Two hours later, the whole gang was back in the ICU, awaiting Jackie's return and Eric's arrival. Donna had to admit that even though she and Eric had broken up, she was looking forward to seeing him. He would know what to do. She looked up at the people in the room. Hyde was sitting by the window, staring out into the parking lot, Kelso and Fez were playing cards, Red and Kitty were standing by the doorway, and her dad was retying his shoe. She wondered if they all felt as broken as she did without Jackie. It was in that moment when she made up her mind to talk to Hyde as soon as she could. She needed to confront him, find out what exactly happened that night. 

"I'm going for a walk." She said as she stood up and walked towards the door. Red and Kitty moved out of her way as she breezed past them towards the elevators.

"We're here to see Jackie Burkhart." Eric's voice caused Donna to stop in her tracks. He wasn't supposed to arrive for another hour.

"Eric?" She heard her own voice squeak and grimaced.

"Donna?" His voice sounded equally squeaky, making Donna feel slightly better. She felt like she was walking in slow motion towards him.

"Your hair!" He pointed to her red tresses and laughed.

"You're… tan!" It was true; Africa had been good for Eric. She watched as he looked behind himself.

"Waiting on someone?"

"Oh yeah." Eric said flippantly. "Uh, so… where is…"

Donna gestured towards Jackie's room. "She's still in surgery though."

"Surgery?" Eric asked surprised. "What for?"

Donna shrugged. "I'm not really sure to be honest with you." She watched as Eric looked behind his shoulder again.

"Donna… there's something you need to know." He started to say something when they reached Jackie's room, but Donna wasn't paying attention. Was it wrong of her to be thinking about how good he smelled? Of course it was. They were over, and even if they weren't, and even if there was a miniscule chance they could get back together, it couldn't happen.

"Look what I found." Donna interrupted Eric mid speech as she opened the door to Jackie's ICU room. She watched as Kitty attached herself to her son like a clamp, pressing kisses all along his face. She reluctantly let go after Red pulled her off, only for Eric to vice gripped by Fez. Eric awkwardly patted Fez on the back.

"Am I interrupting something?" Fez let go of Eric and Eric went to stand by the girl who had walked in. Donna stared at the woman standing next to Eric. She looked like a Greek goddess statue come to life with brown cocoa skin, huge doe eyes and a full mouth. There was no awkwardness or self doubt in her pose; she held her head high in the midst of the open mouth stares coming at her direction. What made it even worse however was that she was giving everyone a huge smile. As Donna narrowed her eyes downward, she saw that she and Eric's hands were intertwined.

"Everyone, this is Jasmine, my fiancé."

"_Hello, Donna, this is me, karmic retribution." _

Jasmine's smile only got bigger. "Oh it is so good to finally meet you all; Eric has told me so much about you!" She spoke in an Africanized French accent.

Red glared at Eric. "She's French?"

"Libyan." Jasmine corrected. "I was born and raised in Libya, but if it makes you feel better, my father fought for the Free French in the war."

Red stared Eric's new fiancé down. "You don't take crap from no one do you?"

"No sir."

"And you're polite." Red nodded. "Eric, I like her."

Eric's smile was worth a thousand heartaches in Donna's eyes. This girl, this boyfriend stealing tramp of a whore, had put that smile on his face. Donna looked over at the empty bed where Jackie should have been. Was this how she felt when Sam had shown up? Of course it was. And Donna had just let it happen. She had let Sam become a part of the group, had even become friends with her. Donna could feel a set of eyes on her and she looked up to see Hyde staring at her as though he could read her thoughts. He knew exactly what she was thinking.

* * *

As Eric's new catch introduced herself to the gang, it occurred to Hyde that he had forgotten something. 

"So, when do I get to meet Mrs. Hyde?" Eric asked his voice teasing.

Crap.

That's what he had forgotten. In all the drama, he had forgotten about Sam.

"You didn't tell her, did you?" Red accused.

"It might have slipped my mind." Hyde admitted, embarrassed.

"She doesn't know?" Kelso asked, voicing what everyone was thinking. "Burn!"

"Just wait till I tell Jackie." Fez said, instantly realizing his mistake. "I mean... when she... crap."

Hyde couldn't help but smile though. It was the kind of burn that Jackie would have appreciated.

* * *

Jackie was alone when the evil enchantress walked into her temporary bed chambers. As prisons went, it was one of the nicer ones Jackie had to admit. 

"You will get me my slippers, little girl." The wicked woman ordered, not bothering with pleasantries. "You will bring them to me by sunset tomorrow." Jackie screamed out when the woman took Jackie's wrist and made a slit into the skin with her nail and then squeezed the blood from Jackie's veins into a glass cylinder.

"I wouldn't try anything." The woman told her. "I have your life force." She waved the glass tube in front of Jackie. "Do we have an agreement?"

Jackie shook her head definitely. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but I'm Jackie Burkhart and I don't take orders from no one, especially washed up middle aged skankoids like yourself."

The woman grabbed a fist of Jackie's hair and yanked her towards a large mirror.

"You think you're so loved? That you're missed, let me show you what's really going on in your world." The woman waved her hand against the mirror and soon Jackie was face to face with her prince.

"Oh looky." The woman mock pouted. "Your prince seems to be enjoying the comfort of another woman's arms, how about we listen?"

Jackie tried to shake her head but it was too late.

"Are you happy?" The blonde was asking.

"I've never been happier." Hyde's reply was almost robotic.

"He's lying." Jackie claimed. "There's no way he's happy with her." She wasn't sure she knew who she was as her face was shadowed but she was certain there was no way Steven could ever be content with some slutball.

"Mrs. Forman is throwing us an engagement party." The blonde told him as she snuggled into his side. Jackie wasn't sure if the face changed, or if the lighting had gotten better, but now she could see the woman snuggling up to Hyde was no other than her best friend.

"Donna?" Jackie reached out but was pulled back by the woman.

"They've moved on." The queen told her. "You will go get me my slippers."

Jackie couldn't take her eyes off the mirror, even though the scene was long gone.

"Yes."

* * *

An hour later, the Forman's and Bob were gone, Jackie was back in her bed, and the gang was sitting in mock circle around Jackie's bed. Nothing was being smoked, but it was a shape that was comforting to the gang. Hyde couldn't take his eyes off of Jackie. She looked even more broken then she had when he had first seen her earlier that day. He wanted to reach out, to touch her, but after what had happened earlier, he was stricken with fear. What if Donna was right? What if he had been trying to finish the job? What if Jackie was so repulsed by him that she'd rather be dead than have him anywhere near her?

* * *

This was stupid. Jackie thought as one of the castle guards led her outside the gates. 

"Well, look at what you've gotten yourself into now."

Jackie looked around. "Oh, it's you again."

The voice gave a slight chuckle. "A day ago you would have been happy to hear me again."

Jackie shrugged. "A day ago, I wasn't being blackmailed into finding some uggo's shoes. Seriously, has she looked in a mirror lately? A pair of glass slippers isn't going to help the mess that's going on up here." Jackie gestured around her face.

The voice laughed. "Ugly or not, she has a vile of you blood, which means you're locked to her now."

"Phh.." Jackie kicked at a rock. "I came here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to rescue Steven."

The voice sighed. "I keep telling you, Steven isn't the one who needs to be rescued here, and you are."

Jackie looked up at the sky, confused. "And just who is supposed to rescue me?" When the voice didn't answer quickly enough, Jackie nodded to herself. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

* * *

"So then Fez decides the way to get back at him is to throw pickles at Fatso Burger so that he's a prisoner of his own pickle prison, so he chucks a pickle at the window but it doesn't land there." 

"Where did it land?" Jasmine asked Hyde.

"On my forehead." Donna told her, glaring at Fez.

Fez pointed at her. "Yep, that's the same look she gave me when it happened." He and Kelso held each other's arms as they laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Hyde asked Kelso. "You weren't even there."

"That doesn't mean I can't appreciate it." Kelso retorted.

"So… tell me about Jackie." Jasmine requested. "Whenever Eric talks about her all he says is that she's spoiled, self centered and mean."

The remainder of the gang looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much true." Kelso said.

"This is the part where you ask us why we're friends with her then." Donna told her, seeing the perplexed look on Jasmine's face. "Go on, everyone else does."

"Um, okay." Jasmine said slowly. "Why are you friends with her then?"

"Because she's perfect." Hyde seemed as surprised by his own admission as everyone else was.

"So perfect that you had to kill her?" Donna said, slowly rising from her chair.

"Donna." Eric tried to grab Donna's hand to get her to sit down again, but Donna pulled it away. He had chosen someone else. He no longer had arm grabbing privileges.

Hyde looked up from his boots and into Donna's red eyes. "You really should get some Visine, Kelso is going to start thinking you're a robot."

Donna crossed her arms. "Stop making jokes, Hyde."

Hyde couldn't deal with Donna's accusations anymore. "You really think I would kill her?" He asked softly.

"I don't know what to think of you anymore." Donna replied. "She was dead and all you could do was laugh!"

Hyde stood up and yelled in Donna's face. "I didn't know!" "I thought she had gone home without us!"

"Like that matters!" Donna screamed. The rest of the gang could only watch as the two most important people in Jackie's life squared off.

"You really want to blame me?" Hyde asked. "You knew how drunk I was, and yet all you could think about was being alone with Randy!"

"Randy?" Eric asked, pretty sure he already knew.

"Boyfriend." Fez answered.

"Ex boyfriend." Donna quipped, not taking her eyes off of Hyde.

"It's your fault she fell in as much as it is mine." Hyde felt horrible for saying it, but he couldn't just let Donna get away with playing the martyr.

Donna nodded. "You're right." She agreed. "We all did this." And in a way, she was right. They had each turned their backs on Jackie when she had needed them most, and now, she was paying the price for it.

Kelso looked up. "So what do we do?"

The gang looked at each other, uncertain. For once, no one had any answers.

"How about you guys start at the beginning." Eric requested.

Fez nodded. "It was a dark and stormy night…" The group all listened as Fez and Donna told their sides of the night in question. No one took their eyes off of Jackie as the vision of her cascading down the creek, body slamming against the rocks as the current swept her downstream engulfed them all. They were lucky she was even alive.

* * *

Jackie waslked back and faced the tall castle. "Next time," She started to tell the inhabitants, "You decide to show me what life is like without me in it, try to be at least a little realistic." She smiled at the gargoyle guarding the gates. 

"So long, Cinderella." She patted the head of the stone beast, turned and walked back into the woods, unaware of the slight head movement the gargoyle made as he watched her with apt curiosity.

* * *

It would make my day if you reviewed. I promise that the next chapter will be more exciting than this one. Big things are going to happen. 


	5. Wishes

**A/N: This is my favorite chapter so far, and I really hope that you guys like reading it as much as I liked to write it. It sets up things to come. Please continue to review, and thanks for everything!**

**Disclaimer: That 70's Show is owned by a bunch of money hungry soulless bastards. I might be money hungry, and perhaps a bit of a bastard, but I'm definitely not soulless. I also don't own the fairy tales referenced in this work of fiction. and I don't own the songs mentioned in this chapter. You can find them on you tube if you want to listen.**

**Warning: Language and gushiness.**

* * *

**Wishes.**

_"Death alone from death can save._

_Love is death, and so is brave._

_Love can fill the deepest grave._

_Love loves on beneath the wave." -The Light Princess- George Macdonald._

Hyde had been grateful when the nurse on duty had come in to Jackie's room to inform them that visiting hours were over. He had just been forced to listen to two of his closest friends as they told the story of his fall from grace. It wasn't even like they had tried to make him into the scapegoat. Hyde had thought for sure that Donna would have made damn sure everyone knew who she held responsible, but she didn't. In fact, she barely mentioned him in her version of that night. It wasn't until they had been kicked out of the room for the night and Eric had placed his hand on Hyde's shoulder while suggesting that they all go sit in a circle somewhere that Hyde realized that Donna had done it on purpose. He was being locked up and forced to confess against his will.

He just wasn't ready to face the music yet, not when he hadn't fully come to grips with it himself. He needed to work it out in his own head first, and then as far as he was truly concerned, there was only one person who deserved to hear what he had to say. Only one person deserved an apology.

How does one apologize to someone who can't hear you, anyway? It was something that Hyde had been pondering for the last few hours.

Alas though, Hyde knew that he wouldn't get out of his impending trial. His friends were going to drag his side of the story out of him if it was the last thing they did. He took a small glance at Donna, who was trying desperately not to look in the direction of her ex and his new fiancé and realized that she had nothing to lose.

Maybe it would be good to have the practice anyway, so that when he was able, he'd be able to apologize to Jackie and not make a total ass out of himself.

Hyde laughed. "Sure, you can tell us how two met." He Indicated Eric and Jasmine.

* * *

Jackie stared up at the giant beanstalk in front of her and shook her head in dismay. There was no way she was going to climb up that thing. Jackie had enough giants in her life, thank you very much. She'd probably be locked in a cage or worse, stomped on by hairy, stinky giant feet. So, she waked around the beanstalk carefully. The ground rumbled beneath her like an earthquake. Jackie looked up nervously. She couldn't see anything, but she bet the giant was near. She moved to stand as far away from the beanstalk as possible and was walking down the path when she heard screaming behind her. She turned around to see a young boy rushing down the stalk as fast as his skinny legs could take him. 

"Move out of the way!" He yelled as he ran towards her. She stepped off the path just as he flew by her.

"But wait, I need directions!" She yelled.

The boy didn't even bother to turn around. "No time!" He yelled. "Just follow the path!"

Follow the path. That was easy enough for him to say.

* * *

The group was almost together again, apart from the one person who was missing and the other who was new. It almost felt complete. 

But it was that almost that made all the difference. Almost wasn't good enough and it never would be. In the past year, Donna had come to realize that they were a set. If you took one of them out, the rest would collapse, and collapse they did, just like a house of cards.

The new DJ came onto the radio. "This is Lovely Lucy and up next is The Beach Boys with Sloop John B." As the song played Donna sang along_ "Well I feel so broke up I wanna go home._

* * *

Jackie had taken the young boys advice and had followed the path all the way back in the glen, where the cottage sat invitingly. Jackie ran to it excited. The cottage was back, and that meant maybe the prince was to!

Jackie ran to the door of the small house and knocked twice on the door, when there was no answer, she slowly opened the door. Maybe the prince was still asleep. She crept into the dark house, leaving the door open just an inch for light.

"Hello?" She called. "Is anyone here?"

But no answer came to her. "Great." Jackie said to herself. She started to look around the cottage. Jackie took a quick look around. A bed was in the corner, a pot of what smelled like week old soup sat on the stove, melted candlesticks and other signs made it obvious that someone still lived there.

* * *

"And he was all 'get it off, get it off!" Jasmine waved her hands in the air and did her best Eric impersonation. Everyone except Eric and Donna laughed. 

"It was huge!" Eric said defensively.

"It was a cricket!" Jasmine teased. "Anyway, I rescued him from the big bad cricket." The two of them looked at each other lovingly.

"So, you're a teacher?" Fez asked.

Jasmine shook her head. "No, I'm not allowed near children, I have a tendency of letting them misbehave." She grinned wickedly. "I run the supplies to all the different camps."

"Supplies?" Fez queried.

"Food, bandages, books, bottled water, pornography, all the necessities." Jasmine answered with a devilish grin.

"How did he propose?" Donna asked.

"Donna." Eric stated warningly.

"No, I want to know." Donna told him. "Tell us all about it."

Jasmine and Eric looked at each other as though they were having a silent conversation. It just served to make Donna more frustrated with the situation. He had an actual connection with this woman, who, and this is what made it even worse, was actually good for Eric.

"He proposed to me on the plane ride here." Jasmine answered after a minute.

"On the plane?" Hyde finally spoke for the first time since they had left the hospital. "Harsh man."

"I was going to do it next week, on Jasmine's birthday." Eric replied. "But we got the call about Jackie and Jasmine offered to come with me and it just felt right." He grinned widely, "And, I got a sign on the plane."

"A sign?" Fez asked.

"Oh yes, tell them what the sign was." Jasmine laughed.

"The in flight movie was Star Wars."

Everyone except Eric and Jasmine groaned.

"Damn Forman." Kelso said.

Jasmine was smiling widely at Eric. Hyde shook his head at both of them.

"You encourage this?" Hyde asked her. Jasmine nodded in response.

"It's only the best movie ever made." Jasmine replied matter of fact.

So damn perfect.

* * *

It was Fez who announced he had to go home first, stating that he needed to have some alone time in Jackie's closet. Kelso had thought it was a good thing that Hyde was distracted and didn't actually hear what Fez said, or otherwise it would have been Fez who needed an ice pack for his eye. After Fez left, Kelso wondered if Donna felt as out of place as he did. 

He made a mental note to talk to her later.

"Have you ever listened to what this song is about?" Donna asked after a moment. "It's about a friend who betrays another friend."

Kelso listened to the song for a minute. "You're talking about Jackie, aren't you?"

He didn't notice the arm coming his way until he was already hit. "Damn, Hyde!"

"I have to get my aggressions out some how." Hyde told him cheekily. Kelso knew better to push it so he just nodded.

"But without your love, I won't make it through, and you don't understand my point of view, I guess there's only one thing I can do." Donna continued to sing to herself. Kelso had noticed that she had been doing that a lot lately, as though she was using music to express her thoughts and feelings. It was either that or yelling at Hyde. He wasn't sure which one he preferred.

"I'm hungry." Kelso said after a moment. "I'm going to go upstairs and make myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich." He stood up from the couch and walked up the stairs where Kitty and Red were talking. He stood hidden in the doorway.

"I just can't believe he would do something like this." Kitty was saying. "He barely even knows the girl and he's already engaged to her?"

"Of all the dumbass things that kid has done…" Kelso knew that the vein on Red's head was probably throbbing. He half thought about going back downstairs, but the call of a sandwich was too powerful to resist, so he came out into the open.

"Don't mind me," He said. "I just came up to make myself a sandwich."

Kitty stood up from the table. "I'll make it for you, Michael; you just go and sit down over there." She pointed to the table. Michael smiled widely and walked over and sat next to Red.

"What's the girl like?"

"I don't understand half the things she says." Kelso answered honestly. Her accent was even thicker than Fez's.

"Well, she seems alright." Red stated.

"Oh, I'm sure she's a lovely person." Kitty replied, "But they barely know each other."

"That seems to be happening a lot lately." Donna said as she came into the kitchen. She smiled at Kitty and sat down at the table with Kelso and Red.

"What is, sweetie?" Kitty asked.

"Your sons marrying women they barely know." Donna answered.

Kitty sighed. "Oh, you poor thing." Kitty shook her head and put down the mayonnaise coated butter knife. "Forget sandwiches," She said. "I'm going to make you two something good to eat." She tossed away the half made sandwiches and started getting out pots and pans.

"Kitty, don't." Red tried to stop his wife from going into full feed an army mode.

"Oh, hush Red." Kitty answered. "Donna, I'm sure your father is still awake, why don't you go see if he would like some lasagna?"

"Sure, Mrs. Forman." Donna went to find her dad.

An hour later, the five of them were eating the most delicious, cheesy, lasagna that Kelso had ever had.

"This is awesome, Mrs. F." Kelso said with his mouth full.

Kitty simply took the compliment for what it was. "You're welcome, Michael."

"Yeah Kitty, this is real good." Red reached over to kiss his wife on the cheek.

"Someone should tell Eric and Steven." Kitty said. Donna shook her head in disagreement.

"They don't deserve this." Donna responded. "If they get hungry, they should have to eat those sandwiches you tossed."

Kelso and Red laughed at Donna's suggestion. Kitty just shook her head sadly.

It didn't matter what Donna wanted though, because five minutes later, everyone in the house was eating the lasagna.

"This is weird." Kelso said after a moment of silence.

"What is?" Eric asked.

"I keep expecting Jackie to walk in." He said nervously.

Donna laughed. "Me too."

"I think the real question is who would she insult first, me or you?" Eric said to Donna.

"Oh, me, I look especially lumberjackish today."

"You're both wrong." Hyde said. "She'd find a way to do both."

* * *

The cottage contained two rooms. In the first room was a hearth, a small bed, a table and a pantry. In the other room was nothing except a wooden desk and chair. The desk was simple, with no drawers or cabinets, but a wooden jar with pencils sat on top, as well as a small locked book. 

It took her a grand total of two minutes to unlock it. Thinking she had found a secret diary of either her prince or perhaps another princess, Jackie was overcome with glee at her find.

What she found though dismayed her for the contents were written in German.

"How am I supposed to read this?" Jackie asked. She skimmed the book, trying to find clues as to who might have written the book, or what it was about. Half way through, something peculiar happened and she was able to read the page. She kissed the book excitedly and turned it back to the beginning, only to find that it and the few pages after that were still in German. It seemed as though only one page was actually written in English. Jackie quickly found it again and, ignoring all sense of propriety, she ripped the page out and placed it in her knapsack. She would read it later.

* * *

Eric knew he was going to have to talk to Donna alone soon. This wasn't how he had wanted this to go. He had wanted to propose to Jasmine in Africa and then, a year from now, come home with her on his arm, safe in the knowledge that both he and Donna had moved on with their lives and there wouldn't be any hard feelings. He hadn't wanted to come back so soon, under such dire circumstances and just add onto the misery that she was already feeling over Jackie. It was a shitty thing for him to do, as both an ex boyfriend and a friend, because even though he no longer had romantic feelings for Donna, she was still one of his best friends. She was the person who knew him best of all, his first love. She deserved an explanation. 

So, after Kelso had left for the night and Jasmine whispered in his ear that she was going to go upstairs to talk with his parents, Hyde, Donna and himself were alone until Donna announced that she was going to go home for the night and that she would see everyone at the hospital in the morning, Eric knew this was probably his only opportunity to talk to Donna.

"I'll walk you home." Eric told her as both of them stood up.

"I think I can manage walking six feet." Donna glared at him.

"They say that most accidents occur six feet away from the home." Eric quipped.

Donna sighed. "Fine," She turned to Hyde with her hand on the doorknob. "Hyde?"

Hyde looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry for what I said before."

Hyde stared at Donna for a moment. "We'll talk in the morning."

Donna nodded her agreement. The three of them knew that Hyde was accepting her gesture of peace.

Eric and Donna walked out of the basement and up the stairs and towards her house.

"It's a nice night." Donna stated. It was true, it was a nice night. The sky was a deep blue with a million stars twinkling overhead. On any other night, the sky would have brought a sense of peace and hope, but on this night, it brought Donna very little comfort.

* * *

Jackie looked out the window at the most gorgeous night sky she had ever seen. This was the sky that poets wrote about, that artists like Van Gogh painted, that couples made love under. Jackie opened the cottage door to go stand outside and let the indigo sky cradle her like a comfortable blanket. But as soon as she left the house it disappeared behind her in a flash. Jackie stared disbelievingly at first and then kicked the ground. 

"Stupid cottages!" She yelled. At least the prince wasn't in there and Jackie had been taken the page out of the diary.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you were brought back to this spot for a reason?"

Jackie rolled her eyes at the voice. "You know, it's getting kind of annoying not being able to see you."

"Well, that's hardly my fault." The voice answered. "I can be seen, you just don't have the right kind of eyes."

Jackie pursed her lips. "And just what kind of eyes do I need?"

"It's a metaphor." The voice sighed.

"Yes, I got that." Jackie replied sarcastically.

After a few moments, the voice spoke up again. "You know, you're not like the other princesses I've had to deal with before."

Jackie sat down on the soft ground. "I'm one of a kind."

"Yes." The voice answered. "Which is why I don't understand why you're so hell bent on rescuing this prince of yours?"

"Someone has to." Jackie replied as she plucked a piece of grass from the ground.

"But he doesn't really deserve it."

Jackie looked up at the twinkling lights. "Yes, he does."

"What if he did something really bad?" The voice answered.

Jackie tied a knot in the blade of grass. "I'm sure whatever he did it wasn't as bad as you're making it out to be."

The invisible man sitting next to his new charge sighed. She had no idea.

* * *

Donna felt as though she had no idea what she was doing anymore. It was ten o' clock at night and she was sitting in her kitchen drinking a beer with her ex. It was all too overwhelming for her. She needed someone to talk to. 

"What are you thinking?" Eric asked.

Donna blinked back her tears. "That I wish Jackie were here."

Eric nodded. "I bet."

Donna looked over at Eric. "You're going to talk to him right?"

Eric sighed. "To Hyde, yeah, he's next on the list."

Donna laughed to keep herself from crying out. Everything was going to hell and she had no power to stop it.

"Donna, I'm so sorry." Eric said. "For Jackie, for Hyde, for making you find out about Jasmine this way, I just want you know that when I broke up with you it wasn't because of her, I didn't even know her when that happened, I just, we were drifting apart, even before I left, you said it yourself remember?"

"I remember." Donna replied curtly. "It doesn't make it hurt less though."

Eric nodded. "I know."

Donna stood up from the table after she finished her beer. "Go talk to Hyde."

Eric stood up and walked to the door and opened it before turning around to Donna who was standing in the doorway from the kitchen to the living room.

"She's going to be okay." Eric said, sounding positive. "She's the toughest of all of us, if anyone can make it, it's her."

Donna didn't reply, nor did she need to.

* * *

As soon as Eric and Donna left, Hyde turned the station to something more appropriate for his mood and then sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. 

"_I've got the records, that we used to share, and they sound the same, as when you were here, the only thing different, the only thing new, I've got the records, she's got you. I've got your memory, or has it gotten me, I really don't know, but I know, it won't let me be." _ Patsy was singing his life story.

As irony would have it, he was starting to miss the sound of her voice. Of course, this wasn't anything new. He had missed the sound of her voice for awhile now. Having her talk to him had been one of his favorite ways to fall asleep. He had asked Sam once to talk, but she had started to talk dirty, misunderstanding Hyde's request. He didn't even bother trying to explain it to her, instead he just said never mind and then rolled over onto his side and eventually fell asleep.

He had felt so bad the next day that he went out of his way to burn Jackie. No one could see how much he missed her. They could never know. Eventually, he had gotten so good at pretending to hate her that the mask actually became real and the love he truly felt for her was buried deep down into his psyche.

It was almost as though his heart had shrunk three sizes.

"I see you're listening to country music again." Hyde looked up to see Eric had returned.

"Hey, Forman." Hyde said. "How did it go with Donna?"

Eric sat down next to Hyde. "It went."

"What's your secret man? How do you get all the hot chicks?"

Eric laughed. "Not all of them."

"True enough." Hyde responded. "There's definitely one that you could never get."

"Speaking of Jackie, you wanna talk about it?"

Hyde looked at Eric. "Is this one of those times when you ask me if I want to talk about something like I have a choice but you drag it out of me anyway?"

"Possibly." Eric smiled.

Hyde sighed to himself and then shrugged his shoulders. "After you left for Africa, I decided to go see Jackie in Chicago."

An hour later, Hyde had given Eric the abridged version of events that had transpired after his departure from Point Place. Part of Hyde felt better, as though he had unleashed a terrible burden that he had been carrying for years, but the other part knew that the only way his burden would truly be uplifted was if he were granted a reprieve.

Which brought him back to the question, how do you gain forgiveness from someone unable to forgive?

"Hey, I got a question for you." Hyde said after a moment. "If you had been here when Sam had shown up, what would you have done?"

Eric thought about it for a minute. "I don't it matters what I would have done, the question is, do you think you did the right thing?"

"Staying with Sam?" Hyde clarified.

"Yeah."

Hyde shrugged. "I thought I did, but now, you know I've barely even thought about Sam since she left for Cincinnati? Hell, I haven't even thought about her at all since…"

"Since the love of your life drowned because of your drunken negligence." Eric finished for him.

Eric's words reverberated through Hyde's head. _"Since the love of your life…" _ Leave it to him to cut right to the heart of the matter. This time, Hyde didn't even bother to argue with his assessment of his relationship with Jackie. She had been his world, and like a fool, he had given it up.

Eric smiled as they listened to the song in the background. "I think it's time you do what Johnny says and walk the line." With that he patted Hyde on the back and walked upstairs, leaving Hyde alone with Johnny, George and Hank. Unable to handle it any longer, he got up and turned the stereo off. Instead of going into his room to go to bed however, he left the basement, got into his car and drove to the top of mount hump. The sight of the sky above reminded him of another time he had been here.

"_Steven, what are we doing here?" _

"_I thought you might like the view." Hyde answered as he and his girlfriend sat on the back of his car. _

"_Yeah, it's lovely… I can see The Hub from here!" Jackie replied sarcastically. "Seriously, Steven, if you wanted to make out, we could have just gone to my house." _

"_Yeah, because I'm sure your mother would love that." Hyde put his arm around his girlfriend possessively. She looked up and they smiled at each other before they both melted into a slow and sensuous kiss. _

"_You're really good at that." Jackie sighed. _

"_Yeah, I know." Hyde kissed Jackie again, because this kissing thing wasn't just a one way street. She knew what she was doing. After a few minutes, they unlocked their lips and Jackie turned her head to look out at the sky. _

"_I think Van Gogh painted this sky." Jackie said after awhile. _

"_How do you know who Van Gogh is?" Hyde asked, shocked at Jackie's hidden depths. _

"_My father once bought a replica of Starry Night thinking it was the real thing, he had been so mad when he found out he had been jipped." _

"_So what did he do with it?" Hyde asked. _

"_He gave it to my aunt who put it in her second floor bathroom." Jackie shook her head and Hyde laughed inwardly at Jackie's family. _

_After a few moments of content silence, a meteor flew by. _

"_Look, it's a falling star!" Jackie pointed excitedly. "Make a wish." _

"_Jackie, I don't make wishes." _

_Jackie pouted for a moment. "Fine, I'll make one for you." She closed her eyes for a moment and then reopened them and smiled._

"_What did I wish for?" Hyde asked teasingly._

"_I can't tell you that." Jackie pushed him playfully. _

"_Well, how will I know if I get it if I don't know what it is?" _

_Jackie grinned. "Oh, you'll know." _

In the present, Hyde watched the falling star flash through the sky like it had a year ago. He didn't make a wish, simply because he hadn't believed in things like wishes since he had been a kid. What he did believe in though was lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by flowers and stuffed animals. He didn't know how he would do it, he didn't know how long it would take, but he was going to find a way to make it up to her, regardless of whether or not she ever woke up.

* * *

The prince rattled on his chains once more. 

"Guard!" He yelled.

The fat troll waddled up to him. "Whaddyo want?" He asked, showing his obvious displeasure at being interrupted from his daily snooze.

"Let me out!" The prince commanded.

"No." The troll stated, running his club over the prison bars as he walked away.

He had to get out of there. His princess was in danger and needed him, he could feel it.

* * *

Let me know your thoughts, they mean so very much to me. 


	6. Wolves

Just a few more chapters to go. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. If you've been reading, but not reviewing, why don't you take the time and do so now?

Disclaimer: I don't own That 70's Show or Fairy Tales. I own Jasmine, Larry and Rocko. Btw, I don't usually care about casting, but Rocko would be played by Michael Chiklis.

This chapter kicked my ass in so many ways, so I really hope that you like it.

Warning: This chapter is sort of graphic. Parents strongly cautioned and all that.

* * *

**Wolves. **

"_Oh Grandmother, what a big, scary mouth you have!" - Little Red Riding Hood_

Hyde was sitting on his El Camino on top of Mount Hump with Donna's voice came on the radio.

"Hey everyone, you're listening to WFPP with me, Hot Donna and this time I promise not to play any disco." Donna laughed. "On that note, I just want to thank everyone who has called in wishing Jackie a speedy recovery, I especially want to thank you, Paul who sat right behind Jackie in third period English class for the card he sent, in which he wrote 'Even though Jackie was mean to me, I still think she's hot.' A sentiment shared by many." Hyde could imagine Donna's smile. "Up next is another classic rock block, starting with Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here." And with that, Donna's voice disappeared and was replaced David Gilmour's. It had played the night Jackie left for Chicago and on the night Sam had shown up, but he had choked it up to coincidence and chose the path of least resistance.

That's all that Sam was; the path of least resistance. The white flag he flew to all those who had told him he would never amount to anything other than white trash. The universe who kept saying he was no better than Bud. When had things gotten so fucked up? When had he turned into the one thing he had never wanted to be? Jackie had always told him that he could be more, do more. She was constantly pushing him to live up to his potential. He had never truly understood what potential she was referring to. He always thought he'd be lucky if he stayed out of prison. But because of her, he now had a real family that actually shared the same blood and weren't working as gas station attendants or in prison. Because of her, he had a job that he loved. And to thank her, he had chosen someone else and had gone out of his way to make sure she knew that he regretted the two years they had together, that it meant nothing to him.

She had believed him too. He had seen it in her eyes the night in the woods. Maybe it had been all the beer, maybe it was her closeness, but he had gone out of his way to be extra snide to her. It wasn't just that she had fallen into the creek that made Hyde feel guilty; it was everything he had said to her prior. She had been so disgusted by him that night that she had refused to take his hand. Why hadn't he just grabbed her and carried her over? Why had he just stood there and watched?

In a fit of self anger, Hyde picked up a rock and threw it off the side of the cliff and watched as it hit a tree on the way down, shattering into several pieces. Then, he jumped into the El Camino, turned up the stereo and proceeded to drive to Milwaukee.

* * *

Red hung up the phone and turned to Kitty, Eric and Jasmine. "That was Steven; he said he's gone to Milwaukee."

Eric was confused. "Why would he go to Milwaukee?"

Red shrugged. "Didn't say."

"And you didn't think to ask?" Kitty asked, narrowing her eyes at her husband.

"Kitty, it's none of our business, WB probably just wanted to see him."

Kitty sighed. She loved her sons dearly, but sometimes they had a tendency of making bad decisions.

* * *

Donna had gone to the hospital right after her shift so that she could talk to Jackie alone before everyone else showed up.

"It's weird to be able to talk to you without you insulting me." Donna looked over at her sleeping best friend. "Yeah, so… Eric's engaged."

She had no idea why she was even waiting for Jackie's response. "Yeah, I know, you always said I could do better than Eric. You should see this girl though, she's pretty and nice and perfect."

Donna knew how Jackie would have replied. She would have said something about how Jasmine must have something wrong with her if she was dating Eric. Donna didn't bother to hold in a giggle.

"Yeah, you're right, she can't be perfect. No one is." She squeezed Jackie's hand. "I really miss you. I never thought I'd say that, but it's the truth. I was so awful this year but you stood by me, so thank you."

Soon though, it got to hard to talk about her love life or lack there of. "Hey, so I found your book of fairy tales." Donna reached down into the duffle bag and got the book. "Want me to read you one?" Donna took Jackie's silence as a yes and started to read The Frog Prince. 

"Once Upon a time, when wishes still came true, there lived a king who had beautiful daughters. The youngest was so lovely that even the sun, which had seen many things, was will with wonder when it shone upon her face." Donna could practically hear Jackie claim "Like me!" in her head. She shook it off and continued to read.

* * *

Jackie glared at the ground as she stared at the swamp before her. Briefly, she turned around and through about taking a different path, but she knew in the pit of her stomach that the only way to get what she needed was to go through the swamp.

"You only have five hours until she comes looking for those slippers." The invisible man reminded her.

"What happens if I don't get them?" Jackie asked. "Will I die?"

The man was silent, which Jackie took to mean 'yes.'

"Have you remembered anything else?" He asked her as they walked. Jackie was fairly sure she had never seen so much moss in her entire life.

"About Steven?" She clarified.

"No, about Rumplestilskin." He replied sarcastically. "Yes, about Steven."

"I remember crying on his shoulder." Jackie told him. "Because Michael cheated on me."

"Oh, so you remember Michael?" This was good, they were making progress.

"Of course I remember Michael!" Jackie exclaimed. "I remember all my friends, Michael, Donna, Fez, Eric, Eric's parents."

"But all you remember about Steven is that you cried on him a lot?" The man asked.

"No, I remember…" Jackie stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the run down shack sitting in the middle of the swamp. In her head, she could hear yelling coming from within, but as she got closer, she realized that there was no one inside. Slowly, she opened the door.

* * *

Hyde walked into WB's office to see two men were sitting on the leather couch; both were wearing suits and were talking in low voices. One was a skinny, twerpy looking man with a bowl cut and long side burns with round sunglasses. He looked like he could be John Lennon's dorky cousin. The other was a short, stocky bald man who reminded Hyde of a bulldog.

"Steven!" WB stood up from his desk to greet his son. "Come on in."

Hyde looked nervously at the two men as he sat down in the chair across from his father.

"Oh don't mind them." WB said, gesturing to the men. "This is just my lawyer, David Greene and my private investigator, Rocko." Both men stood up and shook hands with Hyde.

"I'm glad you came." WB told them once they said had all been introduced. "How is Jackie?"

"The same." Hyde answered. "Not any better, not any worse."

WB nodded solemnly. "Sometimes that's the best you can hope for."

Larry pushed his wire frame glasses on top of his nose. "Why don't we talk about why we're here?"

WB nodded. "Son, when you told me the circumstances of your marriage, I have to admit I was a little concerned about the woman you married, after all, you barely knew her."

Hyde nodded for WB to continue.

"So, I had Rocko here investigate Samantha."

Hyde looked up, shocked. "You did what?"

"I wanted to make sure, for your safety." WB answered as Rocko handed Hyde a manila envelope that said Samantha Hyde in huge letters on the front.

"What's this?" Hyde asked

"Just open it." Rocko commanded.

Hyde opened the folder and dumped the contents out onto WB's desk. He stared dumbfounded at the pictures of his wife kissing another man, her head on his shoulder, the sight of their silhouettes through a window. Hyde was almost overcome with how little he cared his wife was having an affair. It would just make divorcing her all that much simpler.

"There is something else you should see." WB told him as he handed Hyde a piece of paper.

Hyde took one look at it. "It's a marriage certificate."

"Look again." David the Lawyer ordered.

Hyde looked at the certificate; on it were his and her names, the date they had married, and the signature of the clergy. He could see nothing wrong with it.

"It looks okay?"

"It's fake." The lawyer told him. "The man who officiated your wedding is a comedian who officiates joke weddings."

"You were probably so drunk that you didn't realize you weren't really getting married." WB broke in with a grin on his face.

"There's more." Rocko said, leaning forward, "Turns out Samantha is already married."

"So I'm not married?" Hyde asked, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming this.

"You're not married." WB repeated.

"But she is?"

"To someone named Larry Crock." Rocko interjected.

As relieved as Hyde was, he was stunned into complete silence as only one thought made its way into Hyde's brain.

Jackie was going to kill him.

* * *

As Donna read, Fez and Kelso remained silent in their chairs, listening to Donna's voice. No one felt like talking anymore. They were all saving the important stuff for when Jackie woke up. The only question on their minds though was when Hyde was going to return from Milwaukee.

"Where's Forman?" Kelso finally asked.

"He and Jasmine went to Kenosha." Fez answered.

Donna stopped reading and looked up at Fez and Kelso. Something about this news pissed her off. "What the hell are they doing in Kenosha?"

"I think Forman wanted to show Jasmine the city." Fez shrugged.

Donna reminded herself that she didn't care what Eric did. It wasn't so much that he was taking her to Kenosha, but it was that he had done it while he should have been here, feeling as anxious as they were. This was not play time.

"You gonna keep reading?" Kelso asked, breaking Donna from her thoughts.

Donna looked up at him. "Oh, yeah." She said, before turning her attention back to Hansel and Gretel.

* * *

Jackie was filled with an overwhelming sadness when she entered the house. This was a place of pain and broken hearts, where people were abandoned, left to the wolves. She smelled ketchup and beer and the stench of decaying flesh; it's a disgusting mixture that made Jackie want to gag. In the bedroom, there was a broken bed and the carcass of a rotting wolf. Stones filled the animal's belly and Jackie winced at the sight the decomposing animal. The whole house was rotting in fact. She knew she couldn't stay there long, because if she did, she would fall victim to the evil that had taken residence.

"If I were a pair of slippers…" She said to herself. "Where would I be?" Jackie began to search the house for the shoes. How she knew they were there, she wasn't quite sure, but her instincts were telling her this was the place.

* * *

"The wolf thought to himself: "That tend young thing will make a dainty snack! She'll taste even better than the old woman. If you're really crafty, you'll get them both." Donna grimaced at the sexual connotations of Little Red Riding Hood. "This is really perverted." She said to herself.

"I like it." Fez countered.

Donna smiled. "You would."

Kelso had left an hour ago, saying he needed to go call Brooke and Betsy, but Donna knew the real reason he left was because he couldn't take the silence anymore. Kelso had never been good with silence or unhappiness. He needed to be around people who were lively, who weren't sick to death from worrying about their friend.

"Why do they treat her so bad?" Fez asked.

Donna stopped reading. "What?"

"Kelso, Hyde, they always treated her like she's nothing… why?"

Donna didn't have an answer for him.

* * *

Hyde had the radio turned off as drove back to Point Place. He knew that Sam would be coming back soon, and he couldn't wait to shove her lies in her face. He could practically see Jackie dancing in his mind, singing I told you so while hitting the tambourine.

"I told you so, I told you so! Your wife is a whore and I told you so!" The Jackie in his mind sang in front on a huge stage while Donna and Kitty sang background for her.

"Oh, she told you so… your wife is a big fat whore and she told you so!"

"Drum solo!" Jackie yelled, pointing to Forman who was sitting behind a drum kit.

Hyde shook his head to bring himself back to reality before Forman could get a chance to conduct his drum solo.

* * *

"You do know where you are right?"

Jackie didn't answer right away; instead she continued to search underneath the bed for the slippers. She sat up and listened to the memories the house held.

"_They're all gonna laugh at you!" __  
_

"_Shut up Ma! You're making the night too damn special!"_

She remembered that night; it really was special. He had been such a good friend to her that night, but she had failed to see it. She had been so wrapped up in her infatuation with Michael that had failed to see him.

* * *

Donna was still reading when they heard a very familiar voice.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Forman!" Donna and Fez took one look at each other before jumping out of their seats and running to the door.

"Oh, Samantha." Kitty said with fake cheerfulness. "What are you doing here?"

"I went to your house but you weren't there, so Mr. Pinciotti told me where you were and I just had to come… Is Hyde here?"

Donna looked over at Fez who had his arms crossed.

"Oh, hey, it's the stripper." Kelso had come back and was holding a tray full of coffees. He walked by Sam and handed the coffees to Donna and Fez. "What is she doing here?" He whispered loudly.

"Steven is in Milwaukee." Red told Sam who nodded as though she understood. Donna watched Red and Kitty share a look.

"Remind me why I was friends with her again?" Donna whispered to Fez who shrugged.

"I think the peroxide went to your brain." He answered.

Sam looked over at the three and smiled. "Oh, Donna… your hair!"

Donna couldn't help but notice that Sam had yet to ask about Jackie. She also couldn't help but notice that Hyde was coming through the ICU doors.

"Hyde!" Fez called, causing Sam to turn around and run towards him.

"Baby!" She cooed. "How are you?"

Hyde pushed Sam off him and walked over to the Formans. "Any change?"

They shook their heads and Sam stared at Hyde with a dumb expression. Or, as Fez was to later say, "I thought that was her usual expression."

"What did WB want?" Red asked Hyde who was pointedly ignoring Samantha.

"Ah, he wanted to go over some expense reports and discuss Jackie. He's offered to pay all her medical bills."

"Wow, that's great of him isn't it?" Kitty said. Red nodded in approval.

* * *

Jackie picked up a rotting apple core from the ground and instantly dropped it as she heard a familiar voice.

"_You don't remember? We got married!" _

The memory came back to Jackie in a flash. She felt like she had just been punched in the gut.

* * *

Hyde couldn't take it anymore. Sam was pouting at him, tugging on his shirt and whispering to him that she wanted to be alone. All around him, he could see the faces of the disappointed people in his life. These were his family, and he had let them down.

"I went to get a divorce." Hyde admitted. There were a few gasps of shock, and a single yay from Fez.

"What?" Samantha screeched. "Why baby?" It was the most annoying sound Hyde had ever heard in his life.

* * *

"_Man am I glad I dumped you." _

Jackie wanted to kick someone. She felt utterly broken, as though someone had ripped her in two and placed stones inside her stomach, just like the dead wolf in the bedroom.

* * *

"But, as it turns out, I didn't have to bother, because this isn't legal." He held up the fake wedding certificate for everyone to see. "The clergyman was actually a comedian who puts on fake weddings; we were too drunk to notice." Hyde explained, "Turns out our marriage was just one big joke." He ripped the paper in half ignoring Sam's cries of protest. "Fitting huh? Since you managed to make a huge joke out of my life."

* * *

"_It's the monster of the forest, but don't worry it only eats nice girls so you're safe."_

She felt like a huge joke. Here she was thinking he was worthy of love, worthy of her time and devotion, but it turned out he was just a callous jerk who had done nothing but eat her whole. He wasn't a prince, but a big bad wolf.

* * *

"My only regret is that I can't actually divorce you." He told Sam. "But I can tell you to get the hell out of my life."

"But…"

Hyde interrupted her. "I swear if the next words out of your mouth are I love you, I'm going to let Donna kick your ass."

* * *

"_I don't think Samantha is the worst piece of trash that ever walked the earth."_

"How could they do that to me?" She screamed. "Why did they do that to me?"

* * *

"I can't believe you!" Sam yelled. "You're breaking up with me because of some girl?"

That was it, Donna couldn't take it anymore. "She's not just some girl, she's our friend."

"Well, your friend is a bitch who got what she deserved."

* * *

"_I can't cross that." _

"_Sure you can, you just cross it like you usually do, real bitchy." _

Jackie could feel her insides twisting up in knots. She fell to the ground, absolutely broken. She punched her fists into the floor, breaking the skin.

"_Fine, take my hand." _

"_No." _

"_Jackie, just take my hand!" _

She had taken his hand, but the combination of sweat, rain and the drunken numbness of his fingers caused her to loose her grip. She felt like she was drowning all over again, the cold water easing its way into Jackie's lungs as she struggled to stay afloat. The current was just too strong. She remembered screaming, remembered calling his name but there was no answer then, just like there was no answer now as she screamed in the middle of the floor of the swamp house.

* * *

The ICU was in complete chaos as Kelso and Red tried desperately to break up Donna and Samantha who were engaged in a viscous cat fight. Neither of them had ever seen Donna become that undone, she was a wild woman as her fists continued to connect with the stripper's face. In retaliation, Sam was pulling on Donna's hair causing Donna to scream and scratch Samantha on the face with her nails. Red pulled the girls apart and Kelso held onto Donna to keep her from jumping on Sam again.

"Jackie was right about you." Fez spat at the bleeding blonde.

"Jackie's right about everything." Red said to the group. "You're all just too dumb to listen."

* * *

As Jackie laid on the floor crying, she saw something sparkle in the corner. Sniffling, she reached out and grabbed one of the glass slippers. She stared at the shoe for a moment before sending it flying through the air. The shoe hit the wall and shattered.

"Well, that's not good."

Jackie ignored the man as she picked up the other shoe and throwing it in the same direction.

* * *

"I'll drive you to the house." Red told Sam. Kitty had put ointment on the girl's cuts, but it was clear that her eye was going to be black and blue by the morning.

"I have my own car." Sam reminded bitchy.

"Then give me the keys." Red ordered. "But you're not going to be alone in my house."

Sam relented and chucked her keys at Red. "Fine." She pouted.

"Say hi to your husband for me!" Hyde waved sarcastically at Sam's retreating frame.

It was all Donna could do to keep from laughing head hurt from Sam yanking on her hair, and her lip was still bleeding, but all her focus was on the utter irony that was their lives. "Hyde?"

Hyde looked over at the redhead, catching the gleam in her eye. He saw her mouth twitch upwards and felt his doing the same. It was Kitty who started laughing first though. Soon, Fez and Kelso joined her, and finally, something broke inside them all and they were in hysterics in the middle of the ICU.

* * *

"I can't believe it!" The invisible man shouted.

Jackie came out of her daze and stared at the glass on the floor. "What did I do?"

"You broke Cinderella's shoes!" He exclaimed.

Jackie turned to the voice. She could see him now, standing in the middle of the room looking shocked.

"Eric?"

* * *

"So you weren't really married?" Eric and Jasmine had returned from Kenosha and Hyde had filled him in on what he had missed.

"Yep."

"So not only do I miss the wedding and the marriage but I missed the break up as well? That sucks." Eric pouted.

"You also missed Donna kicking Sam's ass." Fez told him.

"Man, I miss everything." Eric whined.

Hyde just nodded as he reached over and stroked the hair out of Jackie's face. When he looked up, he saw that everyone had quietly left the room and he turned his attention back to Jackie. He knew he had hurt her to the point of no return that he couldn't just say "I'm sorry for being a major ass." And hope that everything would be alright, because it wasn't, and it wouldn't.

But one thing kept him from running away, one fleeting bit of knowledge that he had pushed deep inside to keep himself from going crazy.

They had been in love once.

* * *

"I remembered." Jackie told Eric. It wasn't really Eric, but the man had taken Eric's shape and personality. She knew why too, Eric had been the only one who hadn't betrayed her. She hugged her old friend gratefully.

"So why am I not waking up?"

"Because you haven't remembered it all yet. You're just remembering the pain; you need to remember the other stuff too."

Jackie raised her eyebrow. "What other stuff?" She knew deep down what it was though. They had been in love once. She wasn't sure she could go back to that though, because eventually, it would all just come crashing around her. In the real world, she had no one, but here, in the woods, she was safe.

Eric stood up and offered Jackie her hand. "Come on, let's get out of this place, it gives me the creeps."

Jackie agreed, so she stood up and hooked her arm through Eric's. "Come on, Geek boy, let's get out of here."

As they walked out of Hyde's old house, Eric turned to Jackie. "So what are you going to do about the shoes?"

* * *

"Visiting hours are over." The nurse told the group. She wanted them out of her ICU before another fight broke out. Kitty stuck her head through the door of Jackie's room.

"Steven, it's time to go."

Hyde nodded and followed Kitty and his friends outside. Eric had already gone off to the hotel to be with his new fiancé.

"Darn it, Red has the keys." Kitty said.

"Don't worry about it Miss. Kitty, I'll take you home." Fez told her. Kitty smiled gratefully and the two walked off.

"Fez!" Donna called. When Fez turned around she yelled again, "Meet us at the water tower!" Fez gave her a thumbs up sign and turned back around to walk with Kitty.

Donna turned to Hyde and Kelso "Water tower?" She wasn't ready to go home, nor did she want to go to the basement. She needed a night to spend with her three friends, to talk about Jackie, to reconcile with the Hyde she had grown up with, to watch as Kelso would inevitably fall off the tower.

They both looked at each other and nodded. "Water tower." The three said unanimously.

* * *

I don't know about you, but I think they're all making real progress. Let me know what you think! Oh, and I wrote a new one shot that you can find in the M section called The One I Love, go over and read and review! 


	7. Towers

You guys are the best. Seriously, I couldn't ask for a better bunch of readers/reviewers than you. So long as you continue what you're doing, I'll continue what I'm doing.

To Anonymous: I wouldn't want you to go crazy, so here it is!

In writing this chapter, I used three songs for inspiration. Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional, Hallelujah (cover) by Jeff Buckley and Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler. You can find all three songs on You Tube.

Disclaimer: So I was thinking about Scientology the other day (like you do) and it occurred to me that the reason That 70's Show was so bad the last season was because the producers had a bet with some other show to see who could make the worst TV Show possible. It was a social experiment in how to make bad TV! So, they got fifty bucks, and in return, we got shafted! Lovely.

* * *

**Towers. **

"_When she was twelve years old, the enchantress took her into the forest and locked her up in a tower that had neither stairs nor a door. At the top of the tower was a tiny little window." - Rapunzel_.

The Prince had no idea how long he had been locked in his dungeon, it might have been months, a year, maybe two. It felt longer. One minute he had been walking with his dark haired princess and the next thing he knew, she was gone and he was being surrounded by ogres; locked in the dungeon with nothing but stale bread and putrid water to eat and drink.

The strange thing was that he had yet to speak to his captor. His only company thus far had been the troll who kept guard, and all he did was threaten The Prince with his large club. When he got free, he was going to take that damn thing and beat the troll with it.

The only good thing about being locked up was that it gave The Prince time to think about what he was going to do. He was going to find a way to escape, find out who had captured him, and then he was going to kill them. He knew, as a prince that he shouldn't go around killing others, but they had taken him away from his princess, who was, as far as he knew, in dire need of his help. She was in trouble. He knew it just like he knew that the sky was blue. The feeling had only grown stronger in the last day, as though he could feel something inside her breaking.

He pulled on his chains again. The wall was slightly cracked, if only he could pull just a little harder, the wall would break and he'd be free. But his strength was weakening, his arm aching.

He needed to find his strength.

* * *

"If you don't know me by now, you will never, never know me." Fez sang along to the song on the El Camino's stereo as the gang sat on the water tower holding vigil for one of their best friends.

Donna looked over at Hyde. "I'm glad we're doing this." She hoped he understood what she meant. 'I'm glad we're friends again.'

Hyde gave her a small smirk and a nod. "Me too." He looked over Donna to Fez.

"Fez, stop singing."

Fez frowned, "You never let me sing."

"Just ignore Hyde, Fez." Kelso told him from the other side of Hyde. "He's just cranky because of Jackie."

Fez nodded as though Kelso made perfect sense. Donna also nodded in agreement to Kelso's assertion. She half expected Hyde to deny it, but instead he just stared out into the distance, as though he wasn't listening to a word they said. She half wondered if he was mad about the whole Sam debacle.

"You okay, Hyde?" She asked, nudging him with her shoulder.

"What if she doesn't wake up?"

There it was. She had been wondering when someone was going to ask the question they had all silently agreed to never ask. It figured it would be the cynic of the group that broke it.

"She's going to wake up, Hyde." It wasn't Donna who answered him, but Fez. "She has to."

"She might not though." Hyde retorted.

"She will." Donna tried to reassure herself as much as Hyde.

* * *

Four days. Four days and still no sign of her waking up. Hyde knew that the doctors were concerned about her head injuries, but there wasn't anything they could do until she woke up. So, Hyde was starting to resign himself to the fact that maybe she wouldn't. She'd die thinking he hated her.

"Man, this sucks."

Hyde looked over at Kelso who up to that point was being abnormally quiet. "What?"

"If I hadn't taken that job in Chicago, none of this would have happened." Kelso said. "I would have been here to protect her."

Hyde knew what Kelso meant. He was saying, 'I would have been here to protect her from you.' Hyde glanced at Donna who was biting her lip.

"What's with you?" He asked.

"I smiled." Hyde had no idea what she was talking about.

"You called her a bitch and I smiled." Donna was practically shaking.

"Donna, you can't blame yourself." Fez told her. Hyde nodded in agreement. It hadn't been Donna's fault, it was his.

"And it's not Hyde's fault either." Fez said.

Hyde disagreed with Fez's notion. "I'm the one who let her fall in."

"I'm the one who wanted to be alone with Randy." Donna argued.

"I'm the one who went to Chicago." Kelso interjected.

"Oh would you three just shut up?" Fez yelled. "Jackie is my best friend and she's hurt now and all you three can do is argue about whose fault it was? I'll tell you whose fault it was! Everybody's! We're all to blame for this."

"How… how are you to blame?" Donna asked Fez softly.

"I'm the one who lost Miss Kitty's ring." Fez replied simply.

The group found themselves without anything to say. They all turned back and stared straight ahead, each contemplating what ifs. What if Donna hadn't been so selfish, what if Hyde had told Sam to leave when she first arrived, what if Kelso had stayed in Point Place, what if Fez hadn't lost Kitty's ring.

"We should get going, I don't know about you guys, but I haven't slept in days." Donna suggested. The guys nodded, knowing that Donna was right. As they stood up, Hyde had an idea.

"Hey, since we're all to blame, why don't we suffer a little karmic payback and jump off the tower together?" He waited as the other three debated his suggestion.

"Right, because nothing says I'm sorry like breaking your neck." Donna responded sarcastically.

"Hey, I've fallen off the tower millions of times and I've never broken my neck." Kelso said.

"Kelso, I have one word for you, 'Charlie'."

Hyde watched as realization dawned on Kelso's face. "Oh yeah, I had forgotten about him." Kelso shrugged. "I still think we should do it." Hyde and Kelso turned and looked at Donna and Fez, staring at them until they buckled under the pressure.

"Fine." Fez relented. "I'll jump… for Jackie."

Hyde smiled. "What do you say, Big Red?"

"I say the three of you are crazy." Donna answered. "You three go ahead and jump. I'm getting down the sensible way."

Hyde shrugged. "Fine, but the minute Jackie wakes up, I'm telling her you refused to jump for her." He stuck his tongue out at her and then watched as Donna waged war with herself.

"Oh hell." Donna said, hooking her legs around the so called safety rail. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Wait… what if we all get hurt, who is going to drive us to the hospital?" Fez asked. Hyde shrugged. "The one who is hurt the least, I guess."

"Good plan." Kelso agreed. "So, on the count of three?"

"On three." The others agreed.

Kelso turned and smiled. "One."

The others joined. "Two."

"Three!"

* * *

It had been Jackie's decision to call her male sidekick Not! Eric to distinguish him from the real thing, although to be honest he found it a tad bit insulting. However, he had gotten used to that sort of thing from her, so he shrugged it off and decided to be grateful she wasn't calling him bean pole.

Not! Eric was silent as he and Jackie walked through the woods. He had gotten so used to her yammering on about Steven and her friends that her being silent was almost unnerving.

"Do you know where you're going?" He asked, needing to break the silence.

"To the castle." Jackie replied.

"Uh, Jackie… you destroyed her shoes, what do you think is going to happen when you get there and you don't have them? I'll tell you… she's going to kill you!"

"I don't care."

He didn't know what to say to that. He had been put in charge of this girl, to make sure that she remembered, to help her get out, but how was he supposed to help someone who didn't want to be helped?

"Jackie, I know you're scared, but you do want to wake up don't you?"

Jackie stared pointedly at him. "Why?"

"Why?" He wasn't sure what she meant.

"I mean," Jackie continued, "Why would I want to go back? There's nothing there for me anymore." And with that she started walking again, leaving her guardian alone to contemplate how he was going to convince her that she wanted, needed to go home.

* * *

At first, Donna contemplated not jumping and letting the three morons fall, but she knew that if she didn't, she'd never hear the end of it. Also, she owed it to her friend. So as soon as Kelso shouted three, she took a deep breath and stepped off the tower, screaming her lungs off until she felt her body hit the ground. Beside her, Fez was groaning, saying something about how he landed on his bag of M&Ms, she turned her head to see how Hyde or Kelso was doing. Hyde was blinking rapidly, and Kelso was laughing like a crazed Hyena.

These were her friends, of everything Donna knew, or thought she knew, this was the one thing she never had any doubt on, Sure, things had gotten weird after Eric left. Hyde had brought home Sam and Kelso had move to Chicago. Donna had tried to keep the remaining part of the group from falling apart; she had brought in Randy even though it pissed off Fez, and had become friends with Sam even though it hurt Jackie, all in some desperate attempt to replace what was missing. But, if there was one thing she had learned from watching her best friend lie motionless in a hospital bed it was that people can't be replaced. There would never be another Jackie, another Eric, Hyde, Kelso or Fez. At least, she hoped there would never be another Fez. One was enough.

Now Eric was back, but he had moved on while he was in Africa, and Kelso had returned, but for all the wrong reasons. Sam was gone, which while a good thing, made Donna slightly suspicious. She wasn't sure if Hyde had kicked her out because he realized he loved Jackie and wanted her gone, or if he simply felt guilty. She made up her mind to find out.

"_Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone." _

* * *

It only takes a few seconds to land when you fall from the water tower, but in those few seconds it took to land, Hyde wasn't thinking about how much it was going to hurt when he landed, or how Donna was probably going to kick his ass for suggesting such a stupid stunt in the first place. He was back in Halverson's department store, staring at Jackie in the wedding dress. He'd had this fantasy before, but usually it was followed with him joining her in the dressing room. This time, it was just her, smiling radiantly at him as she held out her hand.

"Dance with me, Steven." She commanded.

"Jackie, I'm not going to dance with you."

She pouted slightly. "Sure you are! I know you can dance, you've done it before, so dance with me!" She tugged on his arm.

Hyde shook his head. "Jackie, there's no music." It was a feeble argument he knew.

"Sure there is." Jackie argued. "Now dance with me, Steven!"

Hyde listened to the awful department store music in the back ground. "Jackie, I can't dance to this crap!" It was useless to argue with her though, because soon she was placing his hands on her shoulder and waist, swaying slightly to the melody.

Hyde sighed, knowing he had no choice. "Fine." He wrapped his arms tightly around her and she put her head on his chest.

He was no longer in the department store, but in a large banquet hall surrounded by people in tuxes and gowns. He looked down at himself and saw he was wearing a tux, and Jackie was still in her wedding gown. Your Song played in the background, but the only thing he was paying attention to was the being in his arms. Jackie smiled up at him.

"So, what do you think?"

He didn't get the chance to answer though, because as consciousness returned, he felt the cold hard sting of the ground, heard the concurrent cries of pain from his friends and realized that he was no longer at his reception.

God he hated reality.

* * *

She was close… really close. So close that he could almost smell her perfume.

But it wasn't clean. It was mixed in with something else. Tears, yes, worry, yes, but those were just undercurrents to the strongest scent of them all. Someone, or something, had hurt his princess.

The Prince pulled on his chains, deepening the crack a little bit more. Whoever had touched his princess was going to see the end of his sword.

* * *

Jackie stared up at the single tower in the middle of the forest. It was completely unattached to any other structure, and there was no visible door to the inside.

"What is this tower doing here?" She asked Not! Eric.

He shrugged. "Oh, uh, I'm not sure."

Jackie looked up at the window. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let your hair down!" She giggled softly. "I've always wanted to do that."

"Very funny, your highness, but can we get back to the discussion at hand?"

Jackie had a very good idea what the discussion was, and she wanted nothing to do with it. "Look at these thorns, I bet it would really hurt if you fell into these."

"Yeah, the last guy who did scratched his eyes out." Not! Eric replied disinterested.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "It's too bad I can't get in there." She shrugged and walked away from the tower. "Come on, we need to get to the castle before morning."

"What about the Prince?" Not! Eric asked.

"What about him?" Jackie asked back, she didn't want to think about the prince, or Steven, or anything except getting to Cinderella.

"Well, aren't you going to rescue him? Be the Luke to his Leia!"

Jackie stopped and glared at her companion. Not only did he look like Eric, but he talked like him too.

"Why should I? He let me drown!" She couldn't believe she had to explain this.

"You're the one who kept telling me that I was better off without him, and now you want me to rescue his stupid ass?"

Not! Eric shrugged. "Well, yeah."

Jackie shook her head. She had enough of this conversation. "I'm done here, can we go?" She didn't wait for him to answer.

* * *

"Love is so confusing there's no peace of mind." Donna sang along to the radio as she pulled into her driveway. She opened her car door but remained in her seat as she listened to Debbie Harry sing about misused love. She could see the light was still on in the Forman's kitchen, and part of her wanted to go in, but she knew that the days of her just walking into the Forman's house uninvited were over as long as Eric and his new fiancé were around. Even when Eric had been in Africa and he had broken up with her, she had still been considered Eric's girlfriend, Sure, Kitty had called her a whore when she started dating Randy, but there was never a moment when she didn't feel welcome. Now, she felt out of place, out of touch.

"You gonna stay there all night?"

Startled, Donna jumped in her seat at Hyde's voice. "God, you scared me." She hit him in the arm.

"Ow." He replied, rubbing his arm. "What's got into you?"

Donna shrugged, "I was just thinking."

Hyde sighed and rubbed his eyes "Your father must be very proud."

Donna laughed. She had missed this part of Hyde. "When Sam came, Jackie said she was over you like that, and I believed her, mostly because I was too depressed about Eric to actually look beyond the surface."

Hyde leaned on the car and sighed, waiting for Donna to continue.

"Hyde, why are you doing this?"

Hyde blinked, "What do you mean?"

Donna took a deep breath. "Did you get rid of Sam because you no longer wanted to be married to her, or did you do it because you feel guilty about Jackie?"

"Oh I get it." Hyde answered after a minute. "What you really want to know is if I'm tearing myself up inside as much as you are."

Donna shrugged. "Well, are you?"

Hyde sighed again. "You know, when I was jumping off the tower with you guys, I could only think about Jackie? Maybe before it was about guilt, but now… now I think about what my life would be like if she wasn't in it, it's very quiet." He gave a small smirk.

For whatever reason, Donna felt relieved by Hyde's answer. "Do you love her?" It was a loaded question she knew, and she doubted Hyde would give a straight answer.

"I don't love people." Hyde answered. Donna was about to say something to the effect of 'I didn't ask if you love people, I asked if you love Jackie.' But Hyde went on before she had a chance. "But Jackie isn't people. Jackie… is…." Donna waited for Hyde's answer, but never got it as he was walking towards his car. Donna jumped out of her seat and yelled towards him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to the hospital." He yelled back as he jumped into the drivers seat of the El Camino.

Donna ran towards him. "But it's two am, visiting hours are over."

Hyde shrugged. "I don't care." And with that he was off, leaving Donna alone, wondering what had gotten into Hyde.

* * *

Sneaking into the ICU at two in the morning was remarkably easy. Taking a quick glance around, Hyde entered Jackie's room and closed the door behind him before walking towards the bed. Still standing, he picked up her hand, making sure he didn't accidentally rip out her IV. Rubbing his thumb on her wrist, he stared down at the girl he had fallen in love with against his will.

"I don't know if you can hear me… and I know you probably can't, but I've got something I need to say to you, Jackie." He didn't know why he was so nervous; it wasn't like she could talk back.

"Huh, it's kind of weird to be able to talk to you without you interrupting." He gave a soft chuckle before taking a deep breath.

"You know what? I don't want to say this unless you're awake, so… you got to wake up. I'm trying, Jackie, I really am. Sam is gone, and I'm gonna start going to AA meetings, but none of that will mean anything unless you're there, so you have to wake up. I can't do this without you." He placed a kiss on her forehead, beneath the bandages. "I should go." He told the sleeping girl. He couldn't move though, couldn't get his hand to let go of hers.

"Fine, I'll stay, but only for a little bit." He let go of her hand and walked over to the other side of the bed where there was some space. He carefully removed his boots before climbing in beside her, wrapping his arm around her delicate frame. "Good night, Jackie." He kissed her cheek before closing his eyes. "Sorry about the beard, I haven't had time to shave."

* * *

As Jackie and her companion got closer to the castle, Jackie became more apprehensive. She knew what she needed to do, but the actuality of pulling it off seemed almost too lofty a pursuit. It didn't help that Not! Eric had kept asking her about Steven. She'd rather talk about anything else besides him. Michael's panty collection was a better topic for discussion as far as Jackie was concerned. Given then half of them were probably hers, she'd most likely qualify as an expert. However, she knew that he wasn't going to let off.

"Everything just got so screwy you know?" Jackie didn't wait for Not-Eric to reply. "Sometimes I think it was my fault, because I know I shouldn't have given him that ultimatum, but on the other hand, he shouldn't have just chosen someone he didn't even know, and he shouldn't have said nor did the things he did afterwards. Because I would have forgiven him for the stripper, but I don't know how I'm supposed to forgive him for everything else, especially if I don't know if he's sorry for it."

"Well, you can't stay here." Not-Eric told her. "You're gonna have to go home eventually."

Jackie nodded. "I know." She did know, but that didn't change the fact that she was absolutely terrified. She was becoming used to being a Princess. Granted, she was a princess without the amenities that other princesses got, but it was better than the real world, where her friends ignored her, her ex was nasty to her, and she had nothing going for her except being pretty.

Jackie never thought she would ever think this, but simply being pretty wasn't enough anymore.

* * *

"You can keep pulling on those chains all you want, but you're never going to get out of that cell." The troll told him.

The Prince glared at the troll. "I am," he replied, "and you better be ready for when I do."

The troll pretended to shudder. "Ohhh, I'm so scared." "Give me a freaking break. You ain't getting out from behind those bars. Only one person has the key and she isn't gonna give it up."

She… his capturer was a female. Which old witch had it in for him these days?

"I know it for a fact; she's left you in here for good." The troll snorted when he laughed.

The Prince's reply was to pull on his chains. The troll shook his head and walked back to his chair. "Never gonna happen, Puddin'pop."

* * *

_"The prince was beside himself with grief and in his despair he jumped from the top of the tower. he was still alive but his eyes were scratched out by the bramble patch into which he had fallen. He wandered around in the forest, unable to see anything. Roots and berries were the only thing he could find to eat and he spent his time weeping and wailing over the loss of his dear wife." _- From Rapunzel in the Annotated Brother's Grimm. It doesn't get much better than that. But he found his princess (and his eye sight) so don't despair people! If he can do it, so can Jackie and Hyde! 


	8. Poison

This chapter marks an important turn in this story. I'm sorry it took so long to get out but I wanted to make sure it was exactly right.

I tried to make this chapter as Grimmy as possible. I hope I succeeded. Either way, please review and let me know what you thought of it!

The lyrics in this chapter are from I'll Cover You Reprise from Rent. It's an absolutely beautiful song and if you can, find it on you tube and listen.

Warning: Tissues and cliffhanger.

**Poison. **

_"But no sooner had she taken a bite of (the poisoned apple) than she fell down dead."- Snow White._

Hyde was still asleep next to Jackie when the door to her room opened. Hyde opened his eyes and looked up to see who was coming in.

"Don't mind me." The man said as he walked to Jackie's other side. He opened her eye lids and shined a light into them.

"Uh, who are you?" Hyde asked, figuring that he was a doctor.

"I'm Dr. Reiner, I'm a neurologist."

Hyde got off the bed and moved to a chair. He knew what a neurologist was, so he nodded.

"Uh, is something wrong?" He had to ask.

Dr. Reiner shrugged. "It's difficult to say really, because without her being awake we can't know for sure… but judging by the place her head hit, I think it's safe to say there won't be any motor or speech impairment.

This was good. "What about memory loss?"

Dr. Reiner shook his head. "There's a risk yes, but we'll deal with that when she wakes up."

Hyde said nothing but continued to watch as the specialist checked Jackie.

"I will say this though," Dr. Reiner spoke, interrupting the silence between them, "This is probably one of the most unusual cases I've had."

This made Hyde's ears perk up. What did he mean by unusual?

"What do you mean?" Hyde asked.

"Come over here." The doctor instructed. Hyde did, and the doctor pointed to one of Jackie's monitors.

"You see the bottom line?"

Hyde nodded. "Uh yeah."

"Well, since Jackie's been here, there's been a steady increase in her brainwaves, which is atypical of coma patients. Usually we see a decrease in brain activity, but Jackie seems to be experiencing the reverse."

"So what does that mean?" Hyde asked.

"Well, in my professional opinion, I don't know." Dr. Reiner admitted. "But in my personal opinion, I think she's dreaming."

He looked at Hyde and must have seen the confusion on his face because he continued, "It's almost as though she's in a permanent R.E.M state."

This information was almost too much for Hyde to handle. "So uh, what…"

"We wait." Dr. Reiner said to him, "For her to finish her dream."

* * *

If Not! Eric said one more word about Jackie going home; she was going to have to strangle him. It was easy for him to say, he hadn't gotten his heart broken. It wasn't even enough that he had married someone else, but he had to throw it in her face every chance he got. She was beginning to wonder if he had even loved her at all or if she was just something to bide his time until something better came along.

"She's going to kill you." Not! Eric pleaded for the hundredth time for her to go back as they made their way to the castle's gate.

Jackie knew this. She knew the chances of her making it out where a million to one, but whatever the once beautiful princess had in store for her couldn't be half as bad as what they did.

"You don't think death is half as bad?" Not! Eric asked.

Jackie's response was to knock on the iron gates.

* * *

Donna walked into the hospital chapel knowing her father would already be there. She sat next to him in the pew and looked up at the cross.

"Any word?" Bob asked.

Donna shook her head. "I haven't been up there yet."

Bob nodded. "I don't know what else to do but pray." He admitted.

Donna put her arm around her dad. "Don't worry, you're doing enough."

She kissed his cheek and the two began to silently pray together.

* * *

The Ogre tired Jackie's hands behind her back and forced her onto her knees, placing a gag in her mouth. Jackie kept her gaze on the wicked princess, trying to burn her with her retinas.

Cinderella pulled out the vile of blood from between her breasts. "I warned you what would happen if you didn't come back when my shoes." She waved the vile in front of Jackie.

Jackie stared at the princess. She had memorized her story when she was younger, had worshiped the figure in front of her, and she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her. If there was any proof that happily ever afters didn't exist, it was her.

No one in the kingdom knew exactly what had caused Cinderella to turn wicked. Some said it was when the Prince vanished; others said her heart had turned cold even before his tragic disappearance. Whatever the reason for her wickedness, she had become the most feared person in the kingdom. Her animal companions were replaced by ogres, goblins and other ungodly creatures. She was the personification of evil.

"Poor little girl." Cinderella mocked. "Look at you, trying to be brave. How quaint."

Bravery had nothing to do with it. At this point, it was all about survival. She looked up, letting the enchantress see the defiance in her eyes. Cinderella grabbed Jackie's chin and forced her head upwards before she let go off Jackie's chin, forcing her head to go backwards. Jackie winced in pain.

"Take her to the dungeons." Cinderella ordered her guards. Instead of untying Jackie from the chair however, they simply picked it up and carried her off.

Not! Eric stood watching as the ogres took Jackie. He was grateful that was once again invisible, and that Cinderella or her henchman couldn't see him. He knew he couldn't rescue Jackie on his own though. He would need help.

He ran as fast as he could to the only person he knew would be able to help him. The fairy godmother was, without a doubt, the most powerful being he knew. With one flip of her wand, she could turn even the heartless beast into a kind and generous man. However, since the disappearance of Cinderella's prince and her subsequent turn to the forces of evil, she chose to stay in her cottage alone. Not! Eric just prayed that she would be willing to help him.

Hyde found himself sitting in yet another circle. This one was different however from his usual circles. For one thing, no one he knew was in this particular circle, and secondly, no one was doing anything illegal.

"We have a new member." The leader of the circle said to the group. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Hyde stood up. "Uh… I'm Hyde."

"Hello, Hyde." The group said unanimously.

Hyde sat back down in his chair and scowled at the man grinning next to him. The leader smiled at everyone.

Hyde barely listened as the man spoke, instead he chose to go over what he was going to say to Jackie when she woke up, but something the man said made him look up.

"Alcohol, is like unmarked poison. It looks good in the bottle, but instead of helping you, it only serves to destroy." Remember," The group leader continued, "There's no sense in getting worked up on the 'what ifs'. The mountain is still a ways away; you don't need to panic about how you're getting to the top just yet."

This was, without a doubt, the dumbest thing Hyde had ever heard. It was complete bullshit and if Hyde wanted bullshit he'd talk to someone from the government. Shaking his head in disgust, he stood up to leave.

"Was there something you wanted to say, Hyde?" The leader asked.

"No." Hyde said, waving his hand in a dismissive motion as he left.

* * *

As Donna prayed, she thought about how much each one of her friends meant to her. It was almost as though they were a clock, every piece was important, and when one piece stopped working, the clock itself wouldn't work. Their clock had been broken for awhile now, and somehow it was as though the only one who could fix it was God. She barely noticed when someone sat beside her. There are plenty of other seats she thought as she looked over at the intruder. She took back her negative thoughts however when she saw that it was Leo.

"Leo?" She asked, "What are you doing here?"

Leo smiled at her. "I come here to pray, man."

"Are you praying for Jackie?" Donna asked.

"Sure." Leo grinned, "Wait, who's Jackie?"

Donna rolled her eyes a little bit. "Jackie… loud girl?"

"Oh… Loud girl!" Leo exclaimed as he looked around, "Wait, where is loud girl?"

Donna looked over at her dad who shrugged. She then turned back to Leo.

"Jackie's… hurt." Donna didn't know how else to explain it to him.

"Oh." Leo said sadly, "Did she twist her ankle or something?"

"No, Leo… Jackie… she fell into a creek and now she won't wake up."

Leo nodded, "Hyde loves loud girl."

Five days ago, Donna would have argued that accession, but the past couple days had proved to Donna how deeply Hyde's feelings for Jackie went. She actually wondered if he even knew how much he felt for her. She hoped for both their sakes that he did, and that he wouldn't run away from it this time.

* * *

Jackie lay on the floor of the dark dungeon, her hands and feet still tied together, her mouth still gagged. The concrete floor was cool and hard on Jackie's soft skin, her mouth filled with the taste of dried blood and spit. She felt bruised all over, especially around her face and neck. Her friend's words echoed in her head. What was worse than death? Did she want to die? She had to admit that she didn't know what she wanted.

It was at this moment that Jackie finally allowed herself to cry.

* * *

"Fairy Godmother!" He called. "Fairy Godmother, I need you!"

There was no answer, so he went to the window to look in.

"Please!" He yelled, "Jackie's in trouble."

The Fairy Godmother finally appeared next to Not! Eric and pointed her wand at him.

"You're trespassing."

Not! Eric swallowed his nervousness. "I'm sorry but you have to help me. Cinderella has her."

Fairy Godmother blinked but let down her wand. "I feel like tea, would you like some tea dear?"

She opened the door of her cottage and gestured for him to walk in.

"We don't have time for tea!" He yelled exasperated.

The Fairy Godmother laughed. "Oh don't be crazy. There's always time for tea." She said as she walked into her cottage. Not! Eric followed her in.

"But you don't understand, Cinderella has Ivy and the Prince still needs to be rescued and we must help them!"

"Oh, that's nonsense. Princess Jackie has always been a strong girl, she'll manage." The Fairy Godmother dismissed Not! Eric's claims.

"No she's not!" He argued. "Everything is messed up around here, including you!"

Hyde walked into the ICU to be greeted by everyone except Kelso and Donna.

"Where are Donna and Kelso?" He asked, looking around for them.

"Donna's on her way and Kelso is driving back from Chicago." Fez answered. "I thought you had an A.A meeting."

Hyde shrugged dismissively. "I left."

Kitty shook her head, "But why?"

Hyde shrugged again, "It's just not my scene."

Red raised his eyebrow. "Not your scene? You let your girlfriend drown. Your very definition of 'scene' is in that room, so get your ass back down there."

"No." Hyde said simply.

"No?" Red repeated.

Hyde looked Red in the eye. "Look man, I tried but those people, they have no idea what they're talking about."

Red simply stared blankly in disbelief at Hyde.

"The leader of the group kept spouting off all this crap about how the mountain is still far away and it's no use getting obsessed over it now, but what this dillhole doesn't know is that the mountain isn't far away, it's right in front of my fucking face and I'm,"

"Steven, language." Kitty admonished.

"Only holding on with one hand because my mountain? It's her, man! She's my mountain."

Hyde looked into Jackie's room and no one said anything for a moment. They were waiting for him to go off again, and all they could do was wait for the explosion. It never happened though; instead he turned back to the group and sighed.

"I don't know what else I can do." He admitted.

"I'll tell you what you're going to do." Red said to him, "You're going to do what every man has done since the beginning of time when they've let down the woman they love, you're going to wait."

"Wait?" Hyde asked, hoping that he was misunderstanding.

"Wait." Red confirmed.

Eric walked up to Hyde. "Hey man, why don't we go get something to eat in the Cafeteria?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Hyde replied letting himself be lead away.

* * *

The evil princess walked down the dungeon stairs holding a candle in one hand and a rolled up piece of paper in the other. She walked up to the bars that housed Jackie.

"This quite some reading material you've got here." She said holding up the paper. "I especially like the part where it talks about forgiveness being the key to unlocking the portal." She laughed as she took in Jackie's expression. "Oh dear me, you did read this didn't you? You do know what it says don't you?" "Tis."

She put the paper over the flame and laughed as Jackie's eyes went wider in surprise as the tip of the paper caught fire.

"Oh sweetie," She said mockingly, "Don't be so down. You don't need this. The information on this paper is useless to you now."

Cinderella let the rest of the paper burn into ash.

"Guards!" She yelled, "Bring her." She commanded as the ogres made their way to the cell. She laughed before walking back up the stairs.

* * *

Donna walked into the ICU after a long and somewhat tiring conversation with Leo in the chapel. He had made her realize one thing however, and that was that whatever karma had in store for her wasn't quite over yet. She knew that Jackie waking up wasn't going to magically solve their problems. Jackie wasn't just going to look at everyone and do some Dorothy impersonation and say there was no place like home and forgive everyone for their mistakes. She had a lot to make up for.

Passing by Eric's parents and Fez, Donna walked into Jackie's room and sat in her chair. The Grimm Fairy Tales book was sitting on the little night table beside Jackie's bed. She picked the book up and opened it up to where she had stuck a receipt in as a book mark. Donna had read all the familiar Grimm stories, and was now starting to read the more obscure ones. Most of them were actually fairly disturbing, especially The Robber Bride Groom about a girl who married a cannibal.

"No sooner had she spoken those words than the wicked crew returned home, dragging another girl behind them. The men were drunk, and they felt no pity when they heard her screams and sobs." Donna had to stop at this point as a wave of emotion hit her square in the chest. They were the wicked crew and Jackie was the girl whose screams were being ignored. It was all too real to her.

"They forced her to drink some wine, three glasses full, one white, one red, and one yellow, before long her heart burst in two. The robbers tore off her fine clothes, put her on the table, chopped her beautiful body into pieces, and sprinkled them with salt." Donna grimaced to herself. "Well, at least they know something about preservation."

* * *

Not! Eric was this close to giving up on The Fairy Godmother and helping Jackie himself. Instead of giving any indication that she would help him, she fluttered around her little kitchen making tea.

He was on his sixth cup.

Pushing the tea aside, he stood up and banged his fist on the table. "Look, I know Cinderella hurt you but there are still others out there who need your help! What kind of Fairy Godmother are you if you don't at least try?"

The Fairy Godmother stared at him. "The Prince is dead."

"Okay fine, maybe Cinderella's prince is dead, but Jackie's isn't! We can still rescue him and her before it's too late!"

"It's already too late. She made her choice." The Fairy Godmother replied.

Not! Eric was stunned. "Well, she made the wrong choice and so are you if you don't help me!"

"I've already helped you, my dear." She replied. "I made you tea!"

"Tea?" He had enough of this. He'd find the Prince on his own if he needed too. Saying not even a goodbye, he ran out the door.

* * *

Hyde and Eric sat in the hospital cafeteria drinking their cokes in silence. Eric was doing his best not to upset Hyde. He didn't want him going off like he had before.

Finally, Hyde spoke. "Have you ever had one of those moments where you don't feel like yourself?"

Eric nodded, "Once or twice, yeah."

"Well, that's the way I've felt all year. I just keep saying and doing these things that I'm pretty sure I'd never do."

"So you're like possessed?" Eric asked, slightly confused by Hyde's meaning.

Hyde gave Eric a glance, "No man, it's more of the opposite."

There was more silence as both contemplated Hyde's words.

"Do you love her?" Hyde asked, referring to Jasmine.

Eric looked taken aback. "Of course I do. I mean, it's different than what I had with Donna sure, which takes some getting used to."

"So, you're not sure." Hyde said.

"No, I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be sure?" He sounded anything but sure.

Hyde just shrugged and stood up. "I'm going back up stairs, you coming with?"

"Yeah, I just… I think I'm gonna go to the chapel for a minute." Eric said as he followed Hyde out of the cafeteria.

Hyde nodded and shrugged. "I think Bob's there, so you'll have someone to sit with."

* * *

The Ogres threw Jackie onto the floor of the tower where Cinderella waited.

"Untie her and remove her gag and then leave us." She demanded.

The ogres did as were instructed, bowed and then took their leave.

When Hyde returned to Jackie's room he found Kelso and Fez were playing cards, Donna was reading, Red and Kitty were talking softly to each other by her beside. Hyde stood in the door way and stared at Jackie. It was true what he had said earlier, she was his mountain. He had never seen it before because he had been too afraid to, but now he did. He loved her and it wasn't just some first love like Eric and Donna. This was the real thing. Hyde didn't give much credence to the idea of soul mates, but he knew that he would never feel half as deeply about anyone else the way he felt about Jackie. She wasn't just his first, she was his only. And now, he had to wait for her to wake up and then, he would most likely have to wait for her to forgive him.

Cinderella held out an unmarked bottle of a peculiar looking red liquid to Jackie. Jackie tried to pull herself up but couldn't manage the task.

"You're weak." Cinderella spat. "You're a weak, silly little girl and that's all you'll ever be. No one loves you, no one wants you. But you already knew that didn't you? That's why you came to me instead of going to your precious prince. It's almost as though you want to die!" She laughed to herself before lifting Jackie up by her shirt. "Well, I still believe in wishes, and I'm about to grant yours."

The wicked woman had made a poison using Jackie's blood. It was specifically made to kill her in a manner of seconds. She cupped Jackie's face with one hand, while simultaneously pulling her head back by her hair with the other. She poured the concoction down Jackie's throat, making sure that she swallowed every last drop. Jackie fell to the ground instantly, dead.

* * *

Kitty shook Red. "Red?" "Red, something's wrong." She pointed to the lines on the monitor which were steadily decreasing.

"What just happened?" Kelso asked frantically when her monitor flat lined.

Kitty ran out the door to grab the doctors and the on call nurses. They ran into the room, pushing everyone out of the way. Donna dropped the book as she struggled to move out of the path of the nurses. The table Kelso and Fez were sitting at had been knocked over in the panic and the only person not moving was Hyde, whose gaze was directed straight at Jackie. One of the nurses scrambled to charge of the defibrillator in order to get her heart beating again and bring her back from death.

_If You're Cold and You're Lonely_

Donna didn't know what to do. She always knew what to do, but in this instance, she was helpless as she was pulled back. The doctor kept yelling for the nurse to charge, Jackie's tiny body jerking at the shocks, but it wasn't enough. Jackie was her sister, how would she manage without her? Who would she gossip with? Talk about boys with? Who would call her lumberjack and make fun of her clothes? She had been so stupid, so… selfish. Donna bit her lip as she watched in anguish as the hospital staff tried desperately to save her best friend's life.

"Charge!" The doctor yelled over the noise and panic of the room.

"Charging!" The nurse replied, placing the paddles onto Jackie's chest.

They all watched helplessly as the hospital staff tried their best to revive Jackie. One of the nurses then walked over to them.

"You need to leave." She demanded, ushering them outside. No one moved however. They stood defiant.

"Nurse Thompkins!" The doctor yelled, "Get over here!"

The nurse ran back to the doctor, leaving the gang as they were for the moment.

"Crap!" The doctor yelled, nearly knocking over the chair. "Charge again!" He ordered.

_You've Got One Nickel Only._

Kelso could hardly bare to watch the scene in front of him. His heart was breaking as the person he, in a lot of ways considered his soul mate was shocked repeatedly. She was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. She had always been there for him, even when he had hurt her. She had always understood him the best out of everyone he knew. Without her, what would he do?

The nurse looked at her monitor and shook her head sadly.

"One more time." The doctor commanded.

_When You're Worn out and Tired_

She was his princess, his goddess. Fez hiccupped as his sobs progressed. He would give up all the candy in the world if only she came back to them.

Again, nothing.

"Call it."

_When Your Heart Has Expired_

This was worse than hearing her say get off my boyfriend, this was worse than when she broke up with him over the nurse, this was worse than Chicago, worse than when he first saw her body after he found out she drowned. He knew she was giving up. It just wasn't worth it any more. Never before had Hyde felt so useless, so absolutely crushed. Nothing he did mattered; nothing he said made any difference. She had chosen death.

"Time of death, 1:03 PM."

He almost couldn't blame her.

* * *

Yes, I know, cliffhanger. It had to be this way though. So, um, sorry? The next chapter should be up faster than it took be to get this one out though, so you won't have to wait as long. I'm betting though if you know anything about fairy tales what will happen.

Please review, even if it's just one line.


	9. Princes

I have no excuses for the lateness of this chapter. There are a lot of reasons for the hiatus, but I won't get into them here.

There are only two more chapters left including this one, so this one is pretty long. I hope that makes up for not updating. I'm starting to set up the sequel, However, I'm going to be swamped with school this semester as I'm writing my BA Thesis along with other things. So I don't know what my updating schedule is going to be like. Reviews might help the writing process though. Hint hint.

I own nothing, except for Abraham the Gnome, who is probably one of my favorite OC's ever. This won't be the last time you see him.

* * *

**Princes. **

Not! Eric looked down at the body of his charge and wept. He had become fond of the girl, and had been more than just a little sympathetic with her plight. She had gone through a horrible ordeal, both in this world and the one she had come from. His duties had been simple. He was to help her forgive the world that had betrayed her, and to aid her on her journey back. He had failed on both accounts.

Knowing there was nothing more he could do for her, he left the castle in search of someone he could.

* * *

Any minute now, Hyde was going to wake up and find that this was all just a horrible dream. He'd be back in the basement with his arms around Jackie and he'd kiss her head to wake her up and they'd go upstairs and have breakfast and everything would be as it should be.

But life isn't a fairy tale and this was no dream.

"Time of death, 1:03 PM."

Hyde turned to walk out the door. He had to at least get out of the room. He couldn't be in the same room with her if she was dead. It just wasn't possible.

"No." The word was spoken with force, causing everyone in the room to pause. Hyde gripped the doorframe at the sound of Red's voice. Not even a minute later, Red was speaking again.

"Listen here Burkhart, You're one of the bravest soldiers I've ever known on or off the battlefield, you've fought a hard battle these last few months and a good soldier doesn't just lie down and die when the going gets tough, so that nurse is going to charge those paddle things again and your heart is going to start beating again, do you understand me?" He yelled the last few lines at Jackie.

Red then looked at the nurse holding the defibrillator paddles. "Charge."

The nurse looked panicked over at the doctor.

"You heard the man."

"Please work, please work, please work." Fez prayed beside Hyde.

Hyde stared out the door, listening as the nurse yelled that the defibrillator was charging. He looked out the window of the ICU as a man and a pregnant woman walked past. That was supposed to be them. She was supposed to wake up, and he was going to get her back, and they'd get married and have kids, just like she had wanted. He hated the couple walking past them, just on principle.

And then he heard it.

"We have a heart beat!"

* * *

"We've got a heart beat!" A nurse exclaimed.

She was alive. She was alive and it was all Red Forman's doing. Donna decided right then and there that the man was officially her hero. She was going to get that man a fruit basket or something. What does one get for the man who scared a medical staff into saving their best friend's life? Donna looked over at Hyde. His eyes were bright and he was biting his lip. He wasn't the only one. Both Kelso and Fez had tears streaming down their faces, as did Kitty and her father. Red wasn't crying but he was smiling proudly. Donna turned around expecting to see Eric in the arms of his new fiancé, but instead she found him alone.

"She's alive." Donna spoke, as though saying the words made the truth more real.

Eric smiled at her. "She's alive."

All around her were shouts of celebration, hugs, but Donna still felt numb. She couldn't, wouldn't celebrate until Jackie woke up.

"You all need to leave." The command was given by the same nurse who had tried to kick them out before.

"What Nurse Margaret means is that we need examine Jackie." The doctor told them. "Go have some lunch in the cafeteria; someone will come find you when we're done."

The gang, knowing they had no choice, left Jackie's room and as soon as the last person was out, the door closed and the window shades were drawn.

"So what do we do?" Kelso asked.

"It'll be at least an hour before they're ready to let us in again." Kitty told Kelso and the rest of Jackie's friends.

"I'm gonna go back to the hotel." Eric stated. "Jazz and I will be back later."

Hyde and Donna gave each other a look. "Jazz?" Hyde mouthed from behind Eric. Donna shrugged in response indicating she thought it was a dumb nickname too.

"Jazz?" Kelso asked, "That's what you call her, Jazz?"

"What?" Eric asked defensively, "It's short for Jasmine."

"It's…" Kitty started to say 'nice' but Red, Hyde and Kelso interrupted her before she could,

"It's dumb."

"Hey." Fez held up his hand to defend Eric, "It's not so bad."

"Thank you." Eric said.

"At least he doesn't call her 'Mine.'" Fez finished.

"Hey!" Eric exclaimed, "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

Hyde shook his head. "I'm gonna go, I'll see you cats later." The gang watched as he walked through the ICU doors.

"Yeah, I'll see you all later." Eric kissed his mother on the cheek and followed Hyde out.

Kitty looked at Red, "Red, go talk to Steven."

Red looked back at his wife, "Why do you always make me go talk to Steven? He has a father you know, you should get W.B to talk to him."

Kitty smiled, "You're closer." She patted Red on the shoulder. "Now go."

Red frowned but did as his wife ordered; because he had learned long ago that it was useless arguing with her when it came to things like this.

* * *

While Red and Kitty were arguing, Donna, Fez and Kelso snuck out of the ICU and started to wander the halls of the hospital aimlessly.

"Where do you think Hyde went?" Fez asked after a long period of silence.

Part of Donna still wanted to say, 'Who cares, or even accuse him of running off again, but she knew better now, so instead she said, "He probably went to have a smoke."

"I thought he quit." Kelso was surprised.

"He started again." Donna answered with a shrug. It was better than drinking anyway.

The three of them continued to walk through the halls; passing by various patients' rooms and doctor offices, until eventually they reached the new born nursery. The three stood outside the nursery window and looked into the room.

"Can you imagine if Jackie and Hyde had a kid?" Fez asked the other two.

Donna grinned, "Just what the world needs, a curly haired law breaking loudmouth midget."

The others grimaced at the thought, but then Fez shook his head.

"I think their baby would be beautiful." He stated.

"No, Jackie and my baby would be beautiful." Kelso argued. "Hot people always make hot babies, just look at Betsy."

Donna shook her head, "You and Jackie having a baby, now that's a scary thought."

Kelso grinned at the redhead, "It almost happened you know."

"But it didn't."

"Almost!" He yelled spastically.

"Not even almost, her period was late, that's nowhere near almost!" Donna yelled back.

"Would you two stop yelling?" Fez asked loudly, "You're disrupting the babies!"

Donna and Kelso had the courtesy to look sheepish.

"Sorry." They both muttered.

* * *

Not Eric! ran though the woods yelling for a healer.

"I need a healer, please!" He was greeted with headshakes and shrugs. "Please, a healer, a doctor… a vet! Anyone!"

"I'm a doctor."

Not! Eric didn't know where the voice was coming from, and it sounded small, like a child who had smoked his father's tobacco.

"Anyone, please, I need help!"

"I'm a doctor." The voice repeated.

"Please, doesn't anyone know where I can find a healer?"

Not! Eric then felt a tug on his trousers. He looked down and saw a little man who barely came up to his knee. He was thin, with bushy eyebrows, bubbly cheeks and a thin pointed nose. On his head was a red pointed cap.

"You're the one who has been yelling?" Not! Eric asked, somewhat embarrassed.

The Gnome nodded. "Just think, all that time you've wasted ignoring me."

Not! Eric scowled both at the Gnome and himself, "How do I know you're really a doctor?"

"I happened to have studied under Bulrub the Great." The Gnome said somewhat haughtily.

"Who?" Not! Eric asked confused. He had never heard of Bulrub the Great. Come to think of it, he had never heard of anyone named Bulrub.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Bulrub the Great!" The Gnome replied, surprised at Not! Eric's ignorance.

Not! Eric shrugged and shook his head. "Sorry, can't say I have."

"He's only the most esteemed healer in the entire kingdom." The Gnome paused for a minute before continuing.

"Well, except for in the western hills, but you know how they are."

Not! Eric, who had never been to the western hills, had no idea how its inhabitants were, but he decided to take the Gnome's word for it. Besides, they were wasting valuable time.

"So you can help me then?" He asked hopefully.

"That all depends, first, what do you need helping with, and second, how much you got?" The Gnome said.

Not! Eric decided to answer the second question first, as he knew that gnomes, by reputation, were greedy and would need to be bartered with, no matter what the situation. The only trouble was he didn't have any coin on him, nor did he think Jackie carried around anything of value (to a Gnome) in her knapsack. He guessed, however, that the Gnome would be sure to find something of value in the castle.

"You can have whatever you desire from the castle." Not! Eric started to walk away, gesturing the Gnome to follow him.

"No tricks?" The Gnome asked, following Not! Eric.

"None." Not! Eric replied, smiling.

* * *

Donna, Kelso and Fez were on their way to the cafeteria when Kitty came rushing towards them.

"Oh there you three are!" She exclaimed.

"Can we go back upstairs?" Donna asked instantly.

Kitty shook her head, "No, I don't know what's taking so long." She admitted, "But I'm sure everything is fine." She tried to reassure Donna and the boys.

"So what's up Mrs. F?" Kelso asked flirtatiously.

"Red and Steven still haven't come back, and I'm starting to get worried."

"Hyde probably just went to the record store to check on Leo." Donna reassured Kitty.

"We can go look for them." Fez said, indicating him and Kelso.

Kelso nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I need to drive back to Chicago in a couple hours anyway; I'll just ride back with Fez and pick up my car."

Kitty beamed at the boys, "Thank you both." She gave them and Donna hugs.

"I'm not going anywhere Mrs. Forman." Donna told her.

Kitty smiled, "I know, but you looked like you could use a hug dear."

The two women watched Fez and Kelso walk off and sighed together.

"I feel like I've watched you all grow up." Kitty said almost to herself.

"You've been great to us." Donna replied, thinking of all the times Kitty was there just for a talk whenever things weren't going so well at home.

Kitty smiled and put her hand on Donna's arm. "You two," indicating her and Jackie, "Are like daughters to me."

* * *

Not! Eric watched helplessly as the Gnome examined Jackie. The gnome, who at his tallest was only two feet high, lifted Jackie's arms up and then let them fall back to the floor.

"Well this is a classic case of poisoning if I've ever seen it."

Not! Eric cursed inside his head. "Is there anything you can do?"

The gnome proceeded to open up Jackie's eyelids. "Well, there's good news and there's bad news, the good news is that she's not dead."

"She's not?" Not! Eric repeated the gnome's words. "Are you sure?"

"Fairly sure." The gnome responded, "But don't go celebrating just yet, there's still the bad news."

"Which is?"

"This ain't no ordinary poisoning…this is a strong enchantment, even if she's not dead, she'll probably never wake up." The Gnome stopped for a moment, as if he were considering something.

"I don't suppose you've tried kissing her have you?"

"I would never!" Not! Eric exclaimed, taken aback by the gnome's accusation, but the gnome merely held up his hand.

"I only ask because it's usually the common cure for such things." The Gnome told him. "If you can't kiss her, I advise you find someone who can." With one more look at Jackie, he turned back to her worried sidekick. "The sooner the better."

* * *

Hyde was on his second cigarette when Red found him. Instead of yelling at him, Red simply sat down on the bench next to him.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I nearly got blown up in Korea?"

Hyde sighed, flicked his cigarette out of his hand and leaned back on the bench to listen to Red's story.

"No, I don't think you have."

Red nodded, "We were in a ditch, waiting for the right moment to ambush the enemy when a grenade came flying overhead, and landed right at my feet."

"Shit." Hyde stated.

Red continued on as though he hadn't heard Hyde. "And I knew that I had a little less than fifteen seconds to make my peace with God and face death like a man, but you know what I thought about instead? Kitty's smile." Red paused for a minute, as though considering whether he wanted to tell the rest of the story.

"So what happened did you or someone else throw the grenade back?"

Red laughed, "No, we were going to, but the grenade turned out to be a dud." He looked over at Hyde who had put his head in his hands.

"You got lucky today, Steven."

"Only because of you." Hyde spoke softly.

Red shrugged, "I meant what I said in there you know, she is a good soldier. She's strong, determined, and intelligent. And I've seen her bring you boys to your knees without blinking an eye." Red laughed to himself, as though remembering a not so distant memory.

"Still, thanks." Hyde said gratefully.

Red stood up, "Come on, let's go back in."

* * *

Donna sat in the nearly empty lunch room her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee when Fez sat down across from her.

"Can we go back in yet?" She asked, not looking at him.

Fez sighed, "No, Miss Kitty said they're still examining Jacqueline."

Donna nodded and looked around, "Did Kelso leave?"

"Yeah, but he said he'll be back tomorrow night." He paused and looked at Donna carefully, "Eric's flight leaves tomorrow morning."

Donna closed her eyes and tried to center herself, "That's fine."

Fez smiled knowingly, "You don't mean that."

Donna looked Fez in his dark eyes, "Yes, I do." And for the first time in nearly a year, she meant it.

"Well, Hyde and Red are back." He said, changing the subject.

Donna raised her eyebrow, "Oh, did you find them?"

Fez shook his head, "No… we kind of forgot to look."

"So what did you two end up doing?" Donna asked laughing.

"We went to the Hub." Fez answered. "I tried to convince one of those whores that went to school with Jackie that I'm a prince but no go."

"Oh, did you bring anything back?" She asked eagerly, ignoring Fez's failed pick up attempt.

"Sorry." Fez said, "I only had enough money for fries."

Donna nodded as she got up from her chair, "Let's go find Hyde."

* * *

"You should find a prince to kiss her." The gnome advised.

"A prince?"

"Yeah, you know the male version of a princess? Son of a King and Queen? Typically handsome and can ride a horse?"

"I know what a Prince is!" Not! Eric shouted.

The Gnome backed up slightly. "Well, find one and get him to kiss her that should take care of her ailment."

It took all Not! Eric had not to roll his eyes. "Do you know any princes?"

"Me?" The Gnome asked, "No, not personally." Seeing the glare on Not! Eric's face, the Gnome quickly began to explain. "I'm told that a few of them like to hang out a Old Quigley's, don't know why though, his onion soup tastes like dirty socks."

Not! Eric decided to ignore the Gnome's critique of the famed hunter's soup and rubbed his eyes. He knew instinctively that it wouldn't be enough to find just any old prince off the street. It would have to be Jackie's prince, and he was locked up in some dungeon somewhere.

"Wait!" Not! Eric exclaimed, "Where's the nearest castle?"

The Gnome was visibly taken aback, "Uh that would be Rosengale, five miles thataway." The Gnome pointed east.

"Who lives there?" Not! Eric pressed.

"King Hendrich and his wife, but they don't have any sons." The Gnome answered.

"I have to go… you stay here with her!" Not! Eric ordered the Gnome before running out of the tower room. The Gnome simply stood beside Jackie and scratched his chin.

"Yeah, I'll stay here with the dead girl, that's really how I wanted to spend my day."

* * *

Being friends with someone so accident prone as Kelso had made Hyde think he was used to hospitals. However, even with Kelso's worst injuries, he was never there for more than a couple hours at most. Even when he had his own fall of the water tower, he had gone home that morning. When Red had his heart attack, he stayed in the hospital for two days and then was sent home.

This was the longest anyone Hyde had ever known was in the hospital. This was the longest Hyde had ever spent in the hospital in a row. Apart from Red, he had never worried about the fate of his friends when they were admitted here.

All he wanted was to go back into her room and see for himself that she was alright. To see that she was breathing, to touch her skin and make sure she was still warm. He needed proof that she was still alive.

"Do you have any fives?" Fez asked, interrupting Hyde's inner monologue.

"Go fish."

He briefly looked at his cards, "Donna, do you have any threes?"

Donna handed him a couple cards and drew two more out of the remaining deck.

"Fez, do you have any fives?" She asked coyly.

"Son of a bitch." Fez mumbled as he gave his cards over to Donna. "I hate this game."

Hyde shook his head and went back to staring at the door to Jackie's room.

"You know, it's not going to magically open if you keep staring at it." Donna said to him.

"I just want to know what's taking so long." He said defensively. "Aren't you worried?"

"No." Donna said with a shrug. "I figured the worst has already happened right? Jackie's strong, Hyde. She'll make it through this."

While Donna's little speech did nothing to ease Hyde's concerns, it did go a long way to repairing his faith in her. Her actions had been just as costly as his, she had been kicked down just as much as he had, and yet here she was, showing her faith in Jackie. Hyde only hoped his own redemption would be as clear.

* * *

There was a foul odor coming from Rosengale when Eric arrived at the castle's massive black gate. The moat around the keep was black with moss and seaweed, overgrown weeds and thorns crept up the granite castle. Parts of it were black from smoke and fire. As he made his way into the castle itself, he heard a loud wispy noise, almost like a creaking water pipe in an old house. As he went further and further into the castle itself, the stench became even fouler to his senses, almost blinding him. He heard a crack underneath his feet and when he looked down he saw he had stepped on a bone.

It didn't take an expert to tell that it was human.

As Not! Eric quickly whipped himself around to look at his surroundings; he noticed the floor was covered in skulls and bones, some still dripping with flesh, others in more advanced stages of rot and decay. He stuck his hand over his mouth to keep from gagging.

"You know, when I signed on for this job, no where did they say that it would involve this." He said gesturing around him. Carefully he picked up a sword from the body of a dead goblin and continued on.

"I say we tie his arm off and make it into jelly." A hissing voice said from behind the wall Not! Eric was standing. He gripped the sword tightly with both hands as another voice appeared.

"And I say we cut off his legs, won't try to run anymore now would he?" There was laughter from both creatures.

"Makes you wonder don't it?" The first said, "Bout how sorry he must feel?"

"Bet he regrets trying to escape now." The second one snorted when he laughed.

"Bet he regrets a lot of things." The first one replied.

Not! Eric closed his eyes and prayed to God for guidance as he felt himself disappearing except for the sword which now looked to be floating on its own accord, and ran towards the trolls swiping at them with the blade. The trolls were so shocked that they were caught off guard, making it easier for Not! Eric to knock them out. He grabbed a set of keys from the troll's belt and ran down the stairs towards the dungeon.

* * *

The Gnome moved Jackie to the bed, placing a white rose between her hands so that she looked like the part of an enchanted princess.

"I was told by my father long ago that there once was a beautiful maiden who gave her love to a prince though she was betrothed to another. For this crime she was banished from her lands, sent into the woods to fend for herself. Some say she still walks here and there, cloaked in a black hood. They say she was cursed to live forever, neither able to sleep nor eat or feel anything other than cold. I'm not sure which curse is worse, hers or yours."

"The boy will bring you your prince."

* * *

Not! Eric returned to flesh as he entered the dungeons. The ground was wet and soggy beneath his feet, the odor putrid like rotten fish and fresh blood.

"Are you Prince Steven?" He asked the one prisoner chained to the stone wall.

The man looked up, bloodied and barely recognizable underneath the bruises.

"Who'reyou?" The prince asked, slurring the words together.

"I'm a friend of Jackie's; I've come to rescue you."

The prince's eyes went wide at Jackie's name. Not! Eric could almost call it hope but the prince shook his head in defeat.

"No use." He muttered, "Only she can rescue me."

"Who is she?" Not! Eric had a feeling he already knew the answer, but prayed he was wrong.

"Who'doyouthink?" The prince slurred condescendingly.

"One of these has to work." Not! Eric argued holding up the set of keys he had attained from the troll.

"You look familiar." The prince stated, "Do I know you?"

Not! Eric bit back his smile. "Do you?" He tried another key.

"I suppose not." The prince said looking around, "So tell me, friend of Jackie's, how did I end up here?"

And with those words, the chains broke from the wall and the prince was set free from his bonds.

* * *

In a small chair in a hospital waiting room, Steven Hyde slept. As he dozed, he dreamt of a beautiful girl with raven locks.

"We were so close." She said her voice sounded like it was coming from a mile away.

"You should have known better." He told her, holding her hands close to him.

Jackie shook her head. "No, you should have known better. I would have gone to the ends of the earth with you. All I wanted was for us to be together."

Hyde put his chin on her head. "Me too."

* * *

The prince stood at the bedside of the princess, staring down at her sleeping form. A grey shadow had crept across her skin, yet she seemed to glow luminously from within. He bent down to graze his lips across hers.

"I can't." He told Not! Eric and the Gnome as he stood back up. "I can't kiss her."

Not! Eric blinked twice, "What do you mean, you can't kiss her?"

"Maybe he doesn't know how." The Gnome suggested, "It's really easy, you just press your lips to hers!"

The Prince simply shook his head, "You don't understand."

Not! Eric and the Gnome shared a look between themselves.

"Explain it to us then." Not! Eric replied, clinching his teeth together.

"I don't deserve to kiss her." The prince put his head down.

The gnome, who had been looking at Not! Eric the entire time wisely backed up when he saw Jackie's sidekick's face become a deep shade of red.

"You're telling me that you won't kiss her because you don't deserve to?" Not! Eric asked slowly. The Prince simply kept his head down, but nodded once.

This was the wrong thing to do.

"Who gives a crap about what you deserve?" Not Eric yelled, "This isn't about you and what you deserve, it's about her! Do you know what she's been through? I told her to forget about you and just work on getting back home, but instead she set out looking for you! So forgive me if I don't give a rat's ass about what you deserve! The only reason I found you was so that you could kiss her and wake her up!"

"I didn't know." The prince said softly.

Not! Eric sighed, "You never do."

* * *

One by one the hospital staff made their way out of Jackie's room, until at last the doctor came over to her make shift family.

"We have determined that Jackie will be alright, but we are worried that too much stress will cause her body to shut down again, and if that happens, I'm afraid there will be little we can do for her."

"So what does this mean?" Kitty asked. "Can we still see her?"

"You can." He smiled, "But one at a time, and use soft voices if you can."

Hyde, Donna, Fez and the Formans nodded one by one.

"Hyde?" Donna asked, "You want to go first?"

Hyde nodded at the red head. "Yeah." He broke away from the group and walked towards Jackie's room, as he entered, he turned around briefly to see Donna and Kitty smiling reassuringly at him. Fez was giving him thumbs up and Red simply nodded.

Hyde closed the door behind him and turned to meet his fate.

* * *


	10. Kisses

Well this it. Never before have I been sadder about the end of a story before, but like all good things… But just remember, there will be a sequel. It will deal with Jackie's recovery and her relationship with Hyde, Donna and the rest of the gang. We also haven't seen the last of the fairytale world either.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported this story. I personally think this story is rather self- indulgent on my part, so the fact that so many of you like it means a lot to me.

Song: Why Can't I Fall in Love by Ivan Neville. You can find the song on You Tube. Also, Wash it Away by Black Lab. I wasn't able to find it on You Tube, but if you have I Tunes or some other music subscription service and can find it, listen to it because it's Jackie's theme song for this chapter.

* * *

**Kisses. **

Hyde closed the door to Jackie's room, and flicked the light off, on the basis that some conversations are better done in the dark. He walked over to the chair next to Jackie's bed sat down and put his hands on the edge of the bed. Hyde went to grab her hand but quickly pulled it away, unsure if he should touch her or not. Looking around to make sure he was truly alone with her, he took a deep breath.

"I've got a lot to say, so uh, it's probably a good thing you can't talk." He tried to laugh at his bad attempt at a joke. "You know I never got why you were with me. I always thought you were just biding your time until you got back together with Kelso, and so when I saw you two in Chicago, I just assumed that was it. I never meant to hurt you… no that's a lie, I did mean to hurt you, but not like this. You gotta believe me Jackie, there's nothing more I would like to do more than go back and take it all back. All of it Jackie."

Hyde started to unconsciously draw designs into her skin with his finger as he talked. Spirals and lines that spelled out I love you into her fair flesh.

"I never wanted to be your prince or knight or whatever it was you thought I was. I told you I wasn't that guy, and I'm sorry but I can't just kiss you and make everything better. That's not the way it works." He crossed his arms and looked at her stubbornly. "Besides the next time I kiss you, you're going to be fully awake, and you're going to remember every detail about it. You're going to feel my hands in your hair, pulling you closer to me, you're going to make those soft mewing sounds in your throat that drive me crazy, making me want to kiss you deeper and longer and then when it's over, you're going to pull back, looking flushed and confused, and you'll ask why I did that, and I'm just going to grin, pull you back and do it again. I'm going to keep kissing you, because it's been too long since I could, and I have to make up for lost time, but it won't happen until you wake up."

He looked at the monitor and then back at her. "Fine, you want to play that game, we can." He leaned in close to her, so that their lips were almost touching. "I suppose you need a reminder." He closed the distance between them and glided his lips across hers.

* * *

Donna stared at the door to Jackie's room, wondering what Hyde was saying to her. Maybe it was an apology for everything that happened, maybe he was telling her to wake up or else or maybe just maybe he was confessing his darkest secrets to the sleeping beauty.

Or maybe he wasn't saying anything at all. Maybe he was just sitting in the dark, waiting for Jackie to make the first move. That always seemed to be the case when it came to Hyde and Jackie.

"How long do you think we should give him?" Fez asked no one in particular.

"As long as he needs." Red answered.

* * *

"Can you give me a moment alone with her?" The Prince asked.

Not! Eric looked suspiciously at the Prince.

"Fine." He acquiesced before taking a step back from the prince and Jackie. "I'll be over there." He said pointing to the far side of the room. The Prince nodded in thanks before turning his attention back to Jackie.

Not! Eric walked over to the other side of the room and pretended not to hear what the Prince as telling his princess.

"There is something very wicked going on here Jackie, I could feel it when I was in that dungeon and I feel it now. It's like something is trying to take me over, but I'm trying not to let it, yet I think it might have, because how else could I have lost you?"

Not! Eric shook his head to himself as the Prince continued to talk to the princess. He wasn't sure why he was trying to explain himself to someone who couldn't hear him. If it had been him, he would have waited until after the woman was awake to talk to her. He shook his head again and walked further away from them, unable to listen to the Prince's confession anymore. The Gnome walked back into the room, carrying a large marble vase.

"What do you think this will get me?" He asked Not! Eric.

Not! Eric glanced at the item, "Probably nothing." He answered honestly.

The Gnome nodded in agreement and sat the vase on the ground. "I think Cinderella took all the gold and silver."

Not! Eric repressed a bitter laugh. He could just imagine the queen ordering her servants to take all the valuables with them as they fled the kingdom.

"Where do you think they went?" The Gnome asked.

"Into the woods, I suspect." Not! Eric answered. The Gnome was about to ask another question when they heard a scream.

Both turned quickly, drawing out their swords. The Prince was standing next to the bed, which was now empty. They ran to him.

"What happened?" Not! Eric yelled, "Where did the princess go?"

"I don't know!" The Prince yelled back in panic, "She was just here!"

They both looked at the Gnome in question, but he shrugged in response, "Don't look at me!"

"Search the entire castle!" Not! Eric commanded, running out of the room, followed by the Prince and the Gnome who went off in different directions.

* * *

Hyde looked over at the monitor; the lines where increasing, something was going on inside Jackie's head. Maybe it was like the doctor had said, and she was dreaming or maybe it was that she was finally coming around to him.

"So I was thinking, when you get out of here, the two of us could go on a date, since we haven't actually you know, done that."

"Or we can stay in, watch some TV, and talk… because we're not too good at that either." He shrugged, "Whichever, it's all good with me."

He clutched her hand. "So um, about that kiss… I know you're in a coma and can't really feel anything… or can you? I don't know how comas work really, but uh, anyway, I felt something. I've always felt something when it comes to kissing you." He leaned over and put another kiss on the side of her mouth.

"Damn, I love you."

* * *

Eric was sitting next to the Formans when Donna returned from the restroom.

"Hey!" He smiled at her. Donna walked over to them. She wanted to ask what he was doing there, where Jasmine was, why he hadn't left yet, but the words got stuck in her throat.

"Wanna go for a walk?" He asked, standing up from his chair.

"Uh, sure." Donna said before her conscience could correct her.

* * *

Not! Eric ran through the castle, sword in hand as he searched for the missing princess. He had no way of knowing she was still in the castle, but his gut told him that she hadn't gone far. It wasn't even a question of who took her. He knew instinctively that it had been Cinderella. She never would have left with her work unfinished. It was just a matter of finding them both.

He could hear soft laughter coming from up the stairs to the west tower. Slowly, he made his way up the spiral staircase. He clutched his sword tightly in his hand as he rushed the distance. Standing at the top of the stairs was a servant. Instantly, the guide felt repulsed by the smell coming from the servant. The servant didn't appear to notice Not! Eric was there and continued to laugh.

He stared at the servant who was guarding the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"What my lady wants, my lady gets." The servant answered. It didn't appear that he was even talking to Not! Eric.

"Is the princess in there?" He asked again.

"No."

"You're lying." He accused.

"I would never lie." The servant sounded appalled at the accusation.

"You would for your queen." He replied. Quickly, he asked for forgiveness, and then struck the servant in the heart.

* * *

"Jasmine took the earlier flight back." Eric informed her as they walked through the park across the street from the hospital.

"Oh." She replied, not sure what to say.

"She has all our luggage too, so that I could stay here as long as I need to, without having to worry about… all that." He gestured lamely.

Donna nodded at Eric and continued to walk. She looked up at the dark clouds heading their way and sighed to herself.

"How much time do you have?" She suddenly asked Eric.

"That depends, are you willing to drive me to the airport?" He smiled.

Donna hugged herself and nodded, "Yeah."

* * *

They found Cinderella sitting on her throne, her hand resting on the arm of the throne beside her. She stood up, looking regal and dominant over everyone else in the room, except for the prince.

"So you finally escaped." She gave a fake laugh.

The Prince stood still for a moment staring blankly at the evil queen. He remembered when she was beautiful and kind, but heart ache and rejection had finally caught up to Cinderella. The Prince was amazed to find that he actually felt pity for her.

With one breath, he spun around towards her and withdrew his sword from his side. Cinderella laughed haughtily as the Prince advanced on her. She made no effort to move, as though she wasn't truly expecting him to harm her.

"Tell me where she is." The Prince demanded as he stood with the tip of his sword at the enchantress's neck.

"You're too late! She's already dead." Cinderella taunted.

No. This was no right. She wasn't dead. He'd be able to feel it if she were.

"Where. Is. She?"

Cinderella didn't answer. She just looked up at the Prince with nothing but malice and scorn in her eyes. It didn't take him very long to make his decision. With one long stroke, he sliced his blade through the queen's neck, severing her head from her body without even flinching as the head rolled towards the stairway.

"Finally, you decided to be helpful." The Prince stepped over the body and walked towards the stairwell.

The Gnome bent over and picked the head up. "This should get me something." He closed the eyes with his thumb and stuck the head into his knapsack.

* * *

Hyde sat in silence in the hospital room, trying to come up with the nerve for what he was about to say next.

"The night before we went to the state fair, I had an epiphany. I was looking at myself in the mirror, shaving, and I cut myself. Well I went to get some tissue to stop the bleeding, and I found one of your necklaces. When I went to pick it up, it was like a huge rush of memories, and well… I realized how badly I fucked up. The next day… getting drunk was all I could do, because here I was, twenty years old and already on my way to becoming Bud. I had to drink you out of my head, so that I could go back to my life and not… care."

Hyde took a pause, because he knew it was only about to get worse.

"But Fez lost the ring and we were in the woods and all Donna could think of was being with Randy…and Fez got lost and you and I were left together and the only way I could deal with you was just to put you out of my mind, and forget you were with me. And then you fell in and I laughed." His voice hitched for a moment as he attempted to collect himself. "I guess I thought it was good that you fell in…cause then…. It would mean I wouldn't have to deal with… and you… but if I had been sober, there's no way I would have…I would have gone after you in a second. I'd have dived right in with you. I might not have been able to catch you, but you dying… you leaving my life… Even if you went on hating me for the rest of my God damned life, you'd be here. I would have been swept up in the current with you."

Hyde looked out the window. It was getting dark.

It was time.

* * *

Donna lead Eric through the woods to the place they found Jackie. She wasn't sure what was drawing her back to that spot, but something inside her needed to be there.

"Is this it?" He asked. The rain had washed away all traces that Jackie had been there.

"I just remember running… screaming her name…I don't think I've screamed so much in my life." She felt Eric's arms go around her, pulling her in as she cried.

"Jackie's strong." Eric reminded Donna.

Donna sniffed and pulled back. "We should go."

* * *

The Prince ran up to Jackie who was lying on the floor. He bent down beside her and picked her up into his arms, cradling her small body near his chest. Into her hair he wept, thinking he was too late to save her.

"I'm so sorry." He muttered over and over, his eyes closed and unaware that the princess was slowly waking up.

She blinked once and then once more, eye to eye with the Prince's tunic.

"Ow." She muttered, catching the Prince's attention.

"You're awake!" He exclaimed, pulling back from her slightly to make sure she was okay.

Jackie smiled up at the Prince. "I knew you'd rescue me."

"I had help." He answered honestly.

Jackie smiled again and then frowned, "What happened, where are we?"

"You were poisoned, Cinderella… she's dead now."

"Oh." Jackie replied, not truly understanding the situation.

"As for where we are, we're in her castle."

Jackie nodded un-surely, "Does this mean we can go home now?"

* * *

"I'm worried about our kids, Red." Kitty told her husband as they waited with Fez in the waiting room.

Red didn't say anything, but the truth was, he was worried too. Both of his sons had run off when things got too tough instead of facing life head on. He was disappointed in both of them. For one, it took near tragedy to make him accept he made a mistake, but to tell the truth, it was his other son, Eric who he was most worried about. It seemed that he was still running, still avoiding the problem. Sure, he was out right now with Donna, but he wasn't going to put any bets on whether or not they were actually talking about their relationship or lack there of. For someone who had been so adamant about his love for the girl who lived next door, he had a funny way of showing it.

"And no one has been able to get a hold of Pam. I know Bob has been trying to call her…" It took Red a minute to realize his wife was still speaking. He shook his head at the whole situation. Of course they couldn't get a hold of Pam. She was probably sipping tequila with guys named Raul and Paulo on a beach somewhere, not giving a second thought to her daughter or her well being.

"At least she's no longer alone in that house." Kitty claimed, "And Steven and Michael wonder why she wants so badly to get married."

Red turned and raised his eyebrow inquisitively at Kitty indicating to her that he wished she would explain.

"Well think about it Red, even before her father went to prison her parents were never home, instead they threw money and presents at her instead of love and affection. In some ways she's a lot like Steven, except… better off."

Red nodded his agreement with Kitty. He wondered if it had even occurred to Steven to look at the similarities between Jackie and himself.

* * *

Donna felt awkward standing in the middle of the airport. She couldn't help but recall the last time she had been there. She had nearly begged Eric not to go to Africa, and had chosen instead to remain emotionally distant from him, in order to make it easier on herself when he walked through the gate. If she had known he would thrown everything they had away in a letter, she… well she wasn't sure what she would have done.

"So…"

"So…" Eric agreed.

"I guess you should go." Donna gestured.

Eric nodded, "Yeah."

Donna took a step forward, "I'm really going to miss you Eric."

Eric took a step towards Donna. "I'm gonna miss you too."

Donna leaned up and kissed Eric gently on his lips. It was meant to be a kiss goodbye, in all senses of the word, ending before it could ever begin.

"Take care of yourself and Jasmine."

"I will, and you… there's more to you than Point Place, don't forget that."

Donna laughed, "I won't." She pushed him playfully, "Now go."

"Fine!" He exclaimed, holding up his hands. "I'm gone."

She watched him walk away and as he turned the corner, leaving her sight, she smiled to herself, took a deep breath and started to walk away.

* * *

"You can't go home yet." Not! Eric interrupted the lover's reunion.

"Why not?" Jackie asked.

Not! Eric walked over to Jackie and leaned beside her and the Prince. "Because you haven't chosen yet."

"What's to choose?" She asked, confused.

"Give me your hand" Her guide instructed. Slowly, Jackie complied and the next thing she knew, she was standing unnoticed in a hospital waiting room. In front of her, a red headed Donna sat next to Fez, his head resting on her shoulder. Red and Kitty Forman were sitting caddy corner to them, Red's arm was around his wife.

"Your friends have all been here since you fell, waiting for you to wake up."

Jackie walked up to take a closer look at Donna. "She looks tired."

"She hasn't really slept since that night in the woods." The guide answered. "She's spent all of her free time here, with you, same goes for the rest of your friends."

Jackie nodded and turned back to Not! Eric. "Where is…"

"Steven?" He asked, making the door open with a point of his finger, "Go in."

Jackie did as she was told, entering the dark room. She watched as Hyde sat beside her body. Instantly, she felt light headed.

"What's he doing?" Jackie asked quietly.

"Praying." The guide answered simply.

"But Steven doesn't believe in God." Jackie stated.

"I think he'll believe in just about anything if you were to wake up."

"He really hurt me." Jackie stated to herself. Yet, she couldn't help but think that maybe it wasn't entirely his fault, that maybe he was just as cursed as she was.

"I'm not telling you what you should do." Not! Eric informed her, "If you want to never wake up and stay in the woods that is up to you, but you would be in a coma for the rest of your life, and you would never be able to return here."

Jackie looked up abruptly at the threat. "So you're saying I would be stuck in that horrible hospital gown for the rest of my life?"

"Until you die."

Jackie shook her head. "Do… do you think the Prince would forgive me if I stayed here?"

Not! Eric smiled knowingly, "Yes, so… you forgive him?"

Jackie closed her eyes. "I do." She said sincerely. When she opened her eyes, she was staring up at a white ceiling, only visible by the moonlight coming through the window. With some effort, she turned her head to look at the man sitting next to her.

"Hey." She whispered softly.

He nearly broke the chair as he jumped out of it and then back. "Jackie!"

Jackie closed her eyes and smiled at him. "Steven."

"Jackie!" He exclaimed again. "I should go get a doctor!"

"No." She said, holding out her hand to him. "Stay."

"Someone needs to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." She answered curtly.

Hyde looked disbelievingly at her, but walked back to her bedside none the less.

"So…" She started to speak but a cough caught in her throat.

"Oh here." He said, holding out a small cup of water to her. "You should probably take small sips."

Jackie complied and then leaned back in the bed. "Why does my head hurt?"

"You hit it on a rock." Hyde told her.

"Oh." Jackie replied, "I bet your really sorry now." It was meant as a joke but Hyde stared at her with a serious expression.

"Yeah."

Jackie opened her eyes again and stared back at him. "It's okay."

* * *

Hyde disagreed with her. It wasn't okay, she had been in a coma for a week, had technically died, it was as far from okay as it could possibly get.

"I'm going to go find that doctor." He told her, placing a small kiss on her forehead before leaving.

"Jackie just woke up!" He informed the group, who all stood up and rushed to him.

"Nurse Bennett!" Kitty yelled, "Go find Doctor Perry!" She looked back at the group who were hugging each other in celebration.

"Do you think we should go in?" Eric asked his mom.

"I'll go check on her." Kitty informed them. "You wait here for the doctor."

* * *

Kitty walked into Jackie's room and switched on the light.

"Hi Mrs. Forman." Jackie said softly.

Kitty smiled widely in response. "Oh Jackie, how do you feel?" She asked as she proceeded to check Jackie's vitals.

"Okay, my head is killing me though."

Kitty nodded succinctly. "I'll have Dr. Perry get you something for that."

Jackie gave a grim smile and closed her eyes. "How long was I out? Steven didn't say."

Kitty sighed to herself before answering. "A week."

Jackie gasped softly. "A week?" When Kitty nodded that Jackie had heard right, Jackie continued. "I thought I was just asleep for a couple days."

The door opened again and the doctor and a team of nurses followed in.

"I checked her vitals, Dr. Perry." Kitty pulled him aside to tell him so that Jackie wouldn't overhear. "She seems to be doing okay, but her heart-rate is a little fast and she is complaining about a headache."

The doctor nodded, indicating that he understood Kitty's concerns and shared them. Then he stepped away from her to go look at his patient himself.

"I'm Dr. Perry." He introduced himself. "You've become quite the attraction here."

Jackie smiled, "Of course I am, look at me."

Dr. Perry took the seat Hyde had just vacated minutes before as he and the nurses laughed at Jackie's joke.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions, okay?"

Jackie nodded.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Jackie Burkhart."

"Do you know what year it is?"

"1979."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two, nice bunny ears."

"Damn, I was going for a peace sign." Dr. Perry and Jackie shared a smile.

The doctor smiled as he looked down at Jackie's chart. "Well, it looks like your memory is intact, but we're still going to want to do some other tests on you. Nurse Forman informs me that you have a bit of a head ache?"

Jackie nodded tearfully, "Yeah, right here." She pointed to the same spot she hit. The doctor sighed inwardly.

"We'll take a look at that and get you something for the pain, I promise. You've been through quite an ordeal Miss Burkhart; it's going to take your body time to heal." He stood up and smiled kindly at her.

"Now do you want to see your friends who I think are about to bust the door down, or do you want to get some rest?" He asked, knowing full well which Jackie would choose.

"Friends."

He nodded is okay, "Ten minutes though, and then I want you to get some rest, I'm going to go order those tests and something for the headache." He, Kitty and the other nurses followed him out the door.

He was instantly cornered by the gang.

"Well, how is she?"

"Can we see her?"

"Is she going to be bionic now?"

The group all looked over at Kelso who had just returned from Chicago. "What?" He asked, "The bionic woman is hot!"

Dr. Perry ignored Kelso's comment. "She's okay." He held up his hand before the gang could respond, "I mean she's just okay, not great. We had to wait till she woke up before we could fully assess her injuries, and I'm sure Dr. Reiner is going to want to see her when he gets in, but in the mean time, she's asking for you all." He looked sternly at the group, "Keep it quiet, and try not to be long. I want Jackie to get some sleep."

Donna took it upon herself to be the voice of the group, "We will." She promised him before they walked into Jackie's room.

* * *

Jackie opened her eyes to see all five of her friends.

"Hi." She said, "Donna, your hair!"

Donna laughed as she bent down to give Jackie a light hug.

"Where's Randy?" Jackie asked her.

"He's gone." Donna answered, "We broke up."

Jackie could tell that there was something Donna wasn't saying, but she let it go for the time being. Instead, she turned to Fez and Kelso. The former was glaring tearfully at her, and the other was looking around the room at all the flowers.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Fez reprimanded Jackie.

"Fez." Eric admonished him.

"I won't." Jackie knew it was an empty promise to make, but she did so anyway. She closed her eyes again. She felt like she had just been through a terrible battle. She noticed that Hyde was being quiet.

"Steven?" She asked.

"What, Jackie?"

Suddenly it was like they were the only two people in the room. It was as though the rest of their friends had just vanished from existence and the only two people that mattered anymore were her and Hyde even though he was clear on the other side of the room.

"Would you come over here?" She tried to be as bossy as possible.

"We're gonna go." Donna said, pulling the other three guys away. "We'll be back in the morning." One by one they walked out until Hyde and Jackie were alone.

"Steven, please?"

Hyde sighed and walked over to Jackie's bed.

"I'm here, happy now?"

Jackie smiled, "Yes." She felt safer with him around.

"So… Sam's gone."

Jackie stared at her ex for a minute. "Why?"

Hyde looked sharply at Jackie. Clearly it wasn't the response he was expecting.

"I'll tell you the whole story tomorrow." He promised, "But suffice it to say, she just wasn't the girl for me."

Jackie nodded, remembering what not! Eric had told her. "And who is the girl for you?"

"I'm not sure." He joked, "Got any suggestions?"

Jackie shook her head, "Not really, you're too complicated."

"You're the complicated one." He said, "The neurologist guy said you've been dreaming all this time."

Dreaming? She had been dreaming? It had all been a dream? Jackie closed her eyes and counted to ten to try to calm her emotions. When she opened them, for a split second she thought she saw something or someone standing behind Hyde.

"Hey, are you okay?" Hyde asked concerned.

"Yeah." Jackie lied, "Do… do you think you can stay the night?"

Hyde nodded and then went to turn out the light. When he went to sit down Jackie shook her head.

"No." She said, "With me."

Hyde climbed into the bed along side Jackie. "It's been a while since we did this."

Jackie smiled, "Yeah." She put her head on Hyde's shoulder and closed her eyes.

A few minutes later, Jackie fell asleep. Hyde soon followed suit, tired from spending the day pouring his heart out to Jackie. A few minutes later, Jackie opened her eyes again and looked up at him. She leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the side of his mouth. He crooked his lips in a smile at her.

Jackie closed her eyes again, 'And she lived happily ever after.' She thought before finally drifting off to sleep.

CUT

The Gnome looked over at Not! Eric as they returned from Jackie's world to their own.

"You miss her, don't you?" He accused.

"No." The guide denied, "She's just one of a long line of girls who need assistance."

The Gnome shook his head, clearly disbelieving. "Whatever you say."

They continued to walk together, the gnome carrying his knapsack, the guide staring off into the distance.

"Speaking of princesses," Not! Eric began, "Did you sell Cinderella's head yet?"

The Gnome shook his head, "I've got a buyer out west who wants it, what do you say you and I pay them a visit and I get this thing off my back?"

Not! Eric thought about it for a moment, "It has been a while since I've been out west."

"Good." The Gnome cheered, "It's settled then."

The guide smiled, "But before that, I want to go to Quigley's, I'm having a craving for onion soup." He grinned at his companion as he walked away.

The gnome stood alone for a minute, glaring at Not! Eric's backside. "I'll get you for this." He sighed and hurried to catch up with his friend.  
_  
_

_The End._

* * *

**Author Notes: **

I know I left some things unresolved, but that's because I need them for the sequel, speaking of which, I'm going to have a contest. Whoever can come up with a good name for the sequel will get a prize! It'll probably just be a special mention, but still!

I want to give special thanks to all those who read, reviewed, put this on their alerts and favorites lists. Thank you all for your support!


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